Replace expensive ink, or simply buy a new printer?
With ink prices rising and printer prices falling, you can now buy a printer for the price of a set of cartridges. That does not make it the right choice.
Given the rising price of printer ink and the falling price of printers, you can now buy a printer for roughly the price of a set of cartridges. To discourage exactly that, some printer manufacturers have replaced the full ink set that used to come in the box with “starter packs” containing tiny quantities of ink, forcing the user to buy a new set after only a few pages.
Consumers can push back against high replacement prices by buying refilled or second-hand cartridges, though even this has become harder: modern printer manufacturers put an electronic chip in the cartridge that decides whether it is empty and, if so, renders it unusable. A similar problem arises with printers that treat colour cartridges as a set rather than individually — when one colour runs out, the printer stops recognising the ink that remains.
Perhaps the best approach is to buy a printer you actually like and then maintain it; quality matters more in the long run. Another thing worth weighing is the environmental cost of buying several printers versus buying new ink. Beyond that, consider how much you print and what for — researching the options properly is what will genuinely save you money over time.