Walgreens 101

I have found that Walgreens is one of the trickier stores to master "doing deals" at. I've had my fair share of transactions go awry. But, I have stuck with it and am now able to get most of my personal care items there for free or almost free.  This what I have learned through shopping at Walgreens for a few months.

1. You can use store coupons stacked with manufacturer coupons. Store coupons can come from several sources including: their weekly flyer, their ‘Diabetes & You’ seasonal magazine, their 'Healthy Savings’ flyer, their monthly  'Coupon Book’, and their 'Children’s Activity Book' (which you can buy for 99¢). You can also stack coupons from their weekly flyer with coupons from these other sources in addition to  manufacturer coupons.

2.  Walgreens has a program that gives you coupons at the end of your transactions that you can use like cash, called “Register Rewards.” These are offered weekly, and some deals are offered monthly. You will find these deals advertised in their weekly circular.  They can be used for your next "shopping order."

3. Register Rewards are considered manufacturer coupons and you must have an equal number of items to manufacturer coupons. For example, if you are buying a bottle of shampoo and using a $1.50 manufacturer coupon for it, in order to use a register reward to pay for your purchase, you must include a “filler” item that you are not using an actual manufacturer coupon for.  It can be something really inexpensive, like a piece of candy.

4.  Register Rewards cannot be used on the same deal.  For example, you bought that shampoo from the last example and earned a $2 Register Reward.  You cannot turn around and use that Register Reward to buy another of the same shampoo.  The cash register will not accept it.

5.  You should hand the cashier your coupons in the following order: 1.Manufacturer Coupon 2. Store Coupon 3. Register Reward.  This order seems to work the best.

6.  You are allowed to use a Register Reward you just earned to pay for your next transaction.  This is the best way to pay very little out of pocket.  I was given a hard time for this by one sales clerk, but I politely reminded him that the Register Reward plainly states "off your next shopping order."

I hope this is helpful!  Please leave me a comment or email me if you have any questions!