MAKING THE MOST OF
I used to think of Walgreens as the store for people who didn’t plan ahead, and who ended up being price-gouged because Walgreens was the only store open or available at the moment. Not anymore! You may be surprised to find out that I get lots of items at Walgreens now, including toiletries and food items, and it’s because I have a plan!
Here are some things you need to know about getting the most for the least amount of money at Walgreens:
· The Secret of Coupon Stacking
There are two places you will find Walgreens store coupons: in their weekly ads and in their monthly booklets. Store coupons may be “stacked” with manufacturers’ coupons, which means you can use one Walgreens coupon and one manufacturer’s coupon per item purchased. When you factor that in with regular store sales, you can end up getting some free or cheap stuff!
· Understanding Register Rewards
The Register Rewards (RR) system refers to a “Catalina” coupon which prints out at the register when you purchase required items. You can use the RR as a manufacturer’s coupon for dollars off your next purchase.
Sometimes Walgreens will advertise an item as “Free after Register Rewards.” What that means is, you will have to pay for the item up front, but you will receive an equal amount back when you check out, in the form of Register Rewards.
· Important Things to Know
It can be a little tricky to get the hang of Register Rewards, but here are some pointers that will make your experience at little easier:
1. You cannot have more coupons that you have items to purchase. This can be confusing initially, because remember, you are allowed to stack Walgreens store coupons and manufacturers’ coupons. But also remember that RRs are considered manufacturers’ coupons. If you come up with more coupons than items (count/sort your items before you get in the checkout lane!), grab a small, inexpensive filler item to add to your basket, like a pencil or a piece of candy.
2. It matters in what order you give your cashier the coupons. I give the cashier Register Rewards first, then manufacturers’ coupons, then Walgreens store coupons. For instance, if I’m buying Dawn dishwashing liquid, I may be using a Walgreens in-ad coupon that makes the item $ .99 instead of $1.69, but I’m also using a $1/1 manufacturer’s coupon. If I hand the cashier the Walgreens coupon first, the cash register may reject my $1/1 manufacturer’s coupon since $ .99 is less than $1. See what I mean? Do them in the order above (RR, manufacturers’ coupons, store coupons) and all your coupons should go through with no glitches.
3. You cannot use a RR to do the same deal again. It’s fine to do the same deal in a different transaction, but if you attempt to pay for it with the RR from the exact same deal, the cash register is programmed NOT to print an additional RR. For instance, if you receive a RR from buying Kleenex tissues, it would work to use that RR on a Unilever deal to buy some Ragu or Skippy peanut butter, but if you used it to buy more Kleenexes, you won’t get another RR to spend.
4. Cashiers don’t always know how RRs work. I’ve had some of them tell me that if I use coupons, my Register Reward won’t print, or if I pay with a Register Reward, I won’t receive any additional Register Rewards. Often times the cashier has been shocked to see that the deal worked when I asked them kindly to try it. So know your stuff! It does pay off!
5. If a coupon just won’t go through, ask the cashier to take the item off your order. This will save you the hassles of trying to return items later.
6. Ask for a raincheck. Although they won’t honor any RR deals after that week’s sales (the register prints those automatically), they will honor the price. Sometimes if you have a coupon, you can still score a really great deal, even if the shelf is cleared.
