Walgreens can definitely be a little complicated. However they do have a good number of deals that make it worth learning how to coupon shop there.
7 day Ad Coupons:
These are found in the weekly ad. The majority of the time these will display a price on them (i.e. Reynolds Wrap .99¢) and will have a limit on them. You have to use the coupon in order to get it for the price listed on it. Once your coupon is scanned, it will subtract the appropriate amount to make it .99¢. You do not have to cut these out simply show the coupons to your cashier, and they will scan it or type in in. These are store coupons so they can be combined with manufacturer coupons.
Register Rewards:
Walgreens Register Reward program rewards you for purchasing qualifying items each week. When you buy the qualifying item(s) needed to earn the Register Reward (RR), it will print at the end of the transaction. You can then use these like cash on your next purchase.
Every week in the ad will be a few RR deals some, which are free after RR. By combining these RR deals with a manufacturer coupon, you can get the item for better than free, free or almost free after RR. Yes, you CAN use coupons on RR deals and still get your RR. If your RR does not print, it can be on of several reasons:
- You did not buy the correct item.
- You did not buy the correct amount of items.
- The catalina machine is not working (there will be a red light on)
RR Deals Unlimited-
Since these deals are not tracked through a loyalty card you can do them as many times as you want (Store managers do have the right to put limits). This is great right? Yes, but there are a few rules:
- You can only do the deal once in the transaction to get the RR. For example the deal is: buy a Colgate toothbrush at $2.99 get a $2 RR. If you buy two in the same transaction you will only get one RR for $2. In order to get the RR for both you have to split them into two transactions.
- You cannot pay for a RR deal using a RR from the same deal and get another RR. Have I lost you? Ok using the same example as above: You buy a Colgate toothbrush at $2.99 get a $2 RR. You cannot use the $2 Colgate toothbrush RR to buy more Colgate toothbrushes and earn another Register Reward. If you were to do this another RR would NOT print.
- You cannot pay for a RR deal using a RR from the same manufacturer and get another RR. Using the same example again. You buy a Colgate toothbrush at $2.99 get a $2 RR. You then buy Palmolive at $2.49 which should earn you a $2 RR, you pay for it using your $2 RR from the Colgate and your RR does not print. So, how are you suppose to know if it’s the same manufacturer. Well usually on the RR it will say “Compliments of Whoever”. However sometimes it simply says “thanks for your purchase”. I find it works best for me if I write on the RR what it’s from (for the toothbrush I would write: Colgate). It’s hard to know what company makes what and for this Google is your best friend. Don’t worry this does not happen often, but speaking of toothbrushes that’s usually when I see it. Using the same example let’s say in the next couple weeks there will be a Colgate toothpaste deal which means I cannot pay for it with my Colgate toothbrush RR and get another RR.
Rolling RRs-
Now let‘s say that you want to stock up, since the toothbrushes are such a great deal but you don’t want to pay so much out of pocket (OOP). What do you do? This is where you want to use another RR deal to pay for this one. This is called “rolling”. For example the RR deals this week are:
Colgate MaxFresh or MaxWhite toothbrush $2.99, earn $2 RR - $1 Q
Iceland Health Omega 3 Fish Oil $8, earn $8 RR
Roots of Nature Hair Care $6, earn $6 RR - $1 Q
Notice that the RR for the Colgate and Roots together add up to $8 the price of the Omega 3. So, you could roll these into each other back and forth. Of course you’ll have to throw in a couple of fillers (which I will discuss next). If you don’t feel like buying all the other stuff simply do the deals multiple times, pay cash and then save the RR's you collect each time and use them on groceries or other RR deals later.
Coupon Rules:
You must have as many items as you have coupons. The registers are programmed not to accept any more coupons (excluding Walgreens Ad Qs) than you have items. So, make sure and add up your items and coupons before you check out. Register Rewards are coupons. This is why I said you would need a filler. If you are buying the Iceland (1 item) using the Colgate and Roots RR (2 coupons) you would need a filler (something cheap, pencils are a favorite) to make it two items for two coupons.
Walgreens registers are programmed to not allow overage. So, let’s say you buy Reese’s for .89¢ and you have a coupon for $1 off. When your coupon is scanned it will beep and need to be entered in at .89¢. However, be forewarned that not all Walgreens will do this some will simply refuse the coupon. If this happens to you take your coupon back and have them remove the item. You can avoid this by buying multiples of the item. For instance you could buy 4 Reese’s and use three $1 Qs paying .56¢ for 4. I know FREE is better so if you have another Walgreen’s around then try your luck there first. There will be some instances where doing it that way is still a really good deal you’ll just have to work out the deal.
You can still get overage when using the 7 day Qs. For example: Reynold’s Wrap is regularly priced at $1.49, use $1 Q making it .49¢ then use the 7 day Q advertising it for .89¢ which will deduct .60¢ from your order. Which means you get it for free plus .11¢ overage.
Coupon Order:
The best order to hand your coupons to the cashier is Manufacturer Coupons, then Walgreens Ad Qs (7 day Qs), then Register Rewards.
My Walgreens Deal Post:
When posting the Walgreens deals this is the format I use:
Item, Price, RR Earned
- Coupon to Use
=Price After Coupon (OOP)
Final Cost: Price after Coupon & RR
This is so you can see what your OOP will be as well as your cost after RR.
Go to Day 14.
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