A printing consumable and an ink cartridge are provided in various embodiments of the present disclosure. The printing consumable includes an ink container, detachably installed on an ink cartridge main body; and further includes a first memory, disposed on the ink container, where the first memory is capable of being accessed by a printer and stores ink amount data related to an ink status in the ink container. The printer is configured to rewrite the ink amount data during an ink consumption process, where when ink is substantially used up, the printer is configured to rewrite a part of the ink amount data; and the rewritten part of the ink amount data is configured to be at a non-rewritable protected state.