Brother HL-L3280CDW for a small home office — worth it over a mono laser?

I work from home in Little Rock and mostly print invoices, shipping labels and the occasional color page for school stuff. My old mono laser finally gave out, so I'm looking at a compact color laser like the Brother HL-L3280CDW. The footprint matters since it has to sit on a small desk next to the router.

What I'm unsure about is running costs. Toner for color machines seems expensive, and I don't print photos — just charts and simple graphics. I'm worried I'd pay more per page for color I rarely need, but buying another mono means no color at all. I also don't know how these compact models handle thicker label sheets without jamming.

If you run a similar setup at home, how has toner life worked out and is the color actually useful day to day? Any input would help before I decide.

Update after looking around more - Brother HL-L3280CDW Color Printer Review covered the toner cost side, which is what worried me most. Still not sure the color will earn its keep for charts, but I'm leaning toward it over another mono.

For charts and simple graphics, color definitely earns its keep — a two-color chart communicates faster than gray bars, and school handouts look better. The catch is that color lasers often cycle toner even when you print mono, so per-page cost creeps up if you only occasionally need it. If most of your volume is invoices and labels, a mono for bulk plus a cheap inkjet for the rare color page can beat one color laser on running costs. On labels, check the media weight spec in the manual before buying — thicker sheets are where compact trays tend to struggle.