Mike is spot on here. Monitor calibration is essential, even if you are getting printing done professionally. Changing the settings on the monitor doesn't affect the print, so if you want the colors on the monitor to match the print, you need to have the monitor calibrated.
If you are doing your own printing. you also need printer profiling (for $75
here). You will need to use the same ink, printer and paper for a given printer profile. Generic stuff won't be consistent, so pay the extra money and use the printer manufacturer's inks. Using adobe gamma and the canned printer profiles is better than nothing, but is not as good as doing the thing properly