prints too dark and too red - again

[badwolf1009]

I don't know if anyone can help.......     Always have had a problem with calibration.  Finally got to the point where it wasn't perfect, but kind of close to my prints.  I don't print much, once or twice a year.  I'm not a pro.  It's actually been several months since I last calibrated (I also haven't taken any pics until recently).  Took a few the other day and now I want to print one for Christmas for my mom and MIL.  It's been a while so I needed to calibrate again.  

Last time I calibrated I had to have my brightness WAY down, like almost 0 down.  And my prints were still a LOT darker than my screen.  I also had to have my monitor set at 5700 instead of 6500 in order to get my monitor to somewhat match my prints.  And even then  the prints were still WAY more red than they should have been.

I had my brightness down to like 4 before.  When I recalibrated it said target brightness was 78 and my brightness was like 74 or something.  I thought the target brightness was supposed to be like 120 or something?  How did mine get so low?  I reset to factory defaults on my screen and recalibrated using 6500 first and that was horrible.  Then I remembered that last time I had to go down to 5700.  That made it better, but my brightness is at 11 and when I calibrated it said it was at like 89 or something.  I'm scared that what I print is going to be horribly red and way too dark.   The prints I have here are darker and redder than my monitor.  Now, I don't have proper lighting yet in the room.  It's something I'm still working on.  I have two windows to the right and one overhead ugly chandelier that my husband refuses to change right now because it means fixing the ceiling because it's off center.  I have reveal bulbs in it, but daylight bulbs for that thing are expensive!  Unless someone can point me to a place that has them cheaper (I'm in the usa)?  Those little small base chandelier lights.  

So, money is tighter than ever because husband lost his job in the spring and has only been able to find temporary work for literally half of what he was making.  Last year I bought 2 of those tall floor lamps that shine up and put daylight bulbs in them.  But we had to rearrange the office/playroom and now I only have a spot for one, so less light in the room.  My walls are a neutral grey now at least :-)  I am super scared to order prints.  It's like $15 every time and while that doesn't seem like hardly anything, right now it's a lot to us because of the job situation and christmas .  How do I know that my calibration is right?  What if I screwed it up?  The prints I have are  darker and redder than my screen.  I'm worried my prints are going to turn out even darker because my monitor is brighter, even if it is only at 11.

I have a spyder 4 pro and a dell U2312HM .

[Damien Symonds]

Please don't worry about the 11 thing.  The number on your screen is completely meaningless.  If it has to be 11, or 4, or even 0, that's completely fine.  If your calibrator is saying 89, that's on the high-ish end of what usually works for people.  Below 70 would suggest a problem, but 70 or above is normal.