Thrifty Thursday: Staples Better Binders

Recently, thanks to some online homeschoolers, I discovered something amazing. They are called Better Binders and are found exclusively at Staples office supply store.
What makes them “better”?

Notice in the picture above my old binder. The cover was already cracking along the spine which I had fixed by taping it back down. I had just bought this binder at the beginning of the school year.
The awesome thing about Better Binders is that on all of those frequently used and abused corners and edges, Better Binders have rubber, flexible and virtually indestructible.

The gray edges in the pictures above are the rubber parts. The rest of the binder is made of a nice thick plastic.
But the awesomeness of the Better Binder doesn’t stop there…the rings themselves are D-rings (because they are shaped like a D!), which means that papers lie flat inside instead of curving around like in O-ring binders.

Probably my most favorite feature is the one button that you push to open those glorious D-rings. That’s right just one button. Not two at once or prying apart that center ring. Plus, that one button is really easy to push. It takes barely any effort.

Before I wax poetic for too long about Better Binders, there was one feature that I wasn’t super excited about…the inside pocket.

While this type of folder pocket will hold things more securely, it doesn’t hold as much. I tend to really stuff those interior pockets! But this was such a small issue when compared to all the wonderful things that the Better Binder offers.
Better Binders also come in an array of colors and designs. These are the three we chose for our homeschool:

Magpie’s is the pink one, mine is aqua/gray, and Chipette’s is the purple one. The solid color binders have the clear cover pocket on the outside, but the designed binders do not.

The best part about the Better Binders is that they were on sale this week at Staples. The one inch binders (which is what the girls have) were 2 for $10 and the 1.5 inch binders (which is what I have) were 2 for $12. I know that sounds expensive, but the 1 inch binders normally sell for $8 a piece and the 1.5 inch binders for $10 each.
Plus Staples lets you recycle an old binder for every new binder you buy from them for a $2 discount on the new binder. So I took in four of our old school binders and bought two 1 inch Better Binders and two 1.5 inch Better Binders, all for $14!!!
Since I got the binders so cheap, I just happened to spot this pocket folder for only 99 cents and couldn’t pass it up!

It had our home school's tree theme on it and it matched the aqua and gray binder perfectly. A match made in office supply store heaven!
Who doesn’t love a great deal in the tree house,

Chelli