Walgreens for Beginners

Just like the great deals that can be gotten at CVS (check out my CVS tutorial), there is also great potential to get free and very inexpensive at Walgreens too. Their system is quite different than the system at CVS, though, so I think I should explain how it all works.

REGISTER REWARDS

The main way to get great deals at Walgreens is through their Register Rewards.

Register Rewards are coupons worth a certain dollar amount that you can use to help pay for another purchase. They print at the register when you buy certain items.

Every week the ad will feature the items that produce Register Rewards. Many times these items are a good deal in and of themselves, but if you have coupons for the items, you can often get products for free or even make money! For instance, sometimes items are advertised as "Free after Register Rewards". If the item costs $2.99, and you use a $1 coupon, you will pay $1.99, but a Register Reward for $2.99 will print, meaning you will leave the store with more than money than you paid!

IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT REGISTER REWARDS

• You can use Register Rewards to pay for any of your purchases. However, Register Rewards can not always be "rolled" (using Register Rewards to pay for something else that gives back Register Rewards.) You cannot use a Register Reward from one product to pay for another of the same product. The new Register Rewards will not print. Also, you generally cannot roll Register Rewards between two products that are the same brand. For example, if you had Register Rewards that printed from buying Pampers, you could not use them to buy Crest toothpaste and have new Register Rewards print (these are both Proctor & Gamble products.)
  
  
• Remember that only one Register Reward will print per offer per transaction. If you buy 2 different advertised deals, both Register Rewards will print, but you cannot purchase 2 of the same deal in one transaction. For example, if Crest toothpaste is advertised as giving back $2 in Register Rewards, and Huggies diapers are advertised as giving back $3 in Register Rewards, you can buy both products and get back a $2 and a $3 Register Reward. But you cannot buy 2 Crest toothpastes and get back 2 $2 Register Rewards. If you wanted to buy another toothpaste and get back more Register Rewards, you would need to buy it on a separate transaction.
  
  
  
• Register Rewards are treated by the cash registers just like any other manufacturer coupon. Since you can only use one manufacturer coupon per item purchased, you need to make sure that the number of items you are purchasing is equal to or greater than the number of coupons you have, including any Register Rewards you may have. If you are planning on using a coupon on everything you are buying, you need to add a small filler to your transaction in order to be able to use a Register Reward. (Note: Walgreens Store Coupons and 7-day coupons, which I will discuss a little later, are not considered manufacturer coupons, so you do not need to have extra items for those.)
  
  
  
• If a deal is advertised as something like "Buy $25 worth of select products, get $10 Register Rewards", the value of what you are buying is computed before coupons. An example of this type of deal would be this: "Buy $20 of Huggies products, get $5 Register Rewards." If the diapers are $10 a pack, you could buy 2 packs for $20, use 2 $1 coupons, and pay a total of $18. You would still get the $5 Register Rewards.

MAKING SURE YOUR REGISTER REWARDS PRINT

There are a couple possible reasons why Register Rewards do not print.
1. You didn't buy the correct items. Double check the ad and make sure that you bought the right item including the correct size, variety, etc. If you had to buy a certain dollar amount of something, make sure the items rang up correctly. Sometimes things ring up cheaper than you expected them to, making the total value lower than necessary to get the Register Rewards.
2. The macine is not working or is not on. I have learned to look at the machine before I check out. If there is a green light, my Register Rewards generally print without a problem. If there is a red light or no light at all, I go to a different register because the machine is most likely not working.


COUPONS

There are 3 types of coupons that can be used at Walgreens:

1. Manufacturer's coupons - These are regular coupons like you would get out of the Sunday paper.

2. Walgreens store coupons - These are coupons that can only be used at Walgreens. They can sometimes be found in pamphlets or other places throughout the store.

3. 7 day coupons (in-ad coupons) - these are coupons that are found in the weekly ad. They are basically sale prices, but you must have the cashier scan the coupon, or the product will not ring up for the sale price.

You may use 1 store coupon and one manufacturer's coupon per item. The best order to give coupons is this: give the manufacturer's coupon first, then the store coupon. The reason for that order is that if the two coupons combined are worth more than the cost of the item, a manufacturer's coupon will beep if given last. Store coupons will go through just fine if given last, giving you overage toward the rest of your purchase.


If I haven't answered all your questions, feel free to email me or leave a comment, and I'll do my best to give you an answer!