XL cartridges are advertised at printing twice as much as the regular size. I couldn't see anything on the Canon printer ink box that stated how much ink the cartridge contained or how many pages it would print. The Canon web site for the MG 2520 printer cartridge shows approximately 150-200 pages and 300-420 for the XL size. Staples shows approximately 180 pages for the regular 245 cartridge.
And don't change the cartridge as soon as you get a message showing it's empty. I've been using my printer for months after the message first appeared. If your black and color ink is fading, instead of changing both out, select blue for printing documents. Blue is the color used the least and you will get more mileage out of your color ink.
Another trick manufacturers use for using more ink is to ask you to print an alignment page. Just hit cancel if you see this message. I couldn't find any reason to do this every time I turned on the printer.
Beware of buying refilled or recycled cartridges. The ones I purchased from Office Depot, not only didn't work, but it caused a jam and consequently damage to the printer. Printer manufacturers make their money on the ink and not the printer so they don't want you to use other ink products.
Other ways you can save on ink (although not a huge difference) is to change your font to Garamond which is a smaller typeface and/or choose grayscale for printing.
Don't throw away cartridges, some places will give you store credit for returning them: Staples, Office Depot
After researching online for printer ink, Walmart still appears to be the cheapest place to purchase ink.
