How Do I Find A Good Deal At Walgreens?
By · Jun 28It took me a few months to figure out how to shop at Walgreens. There is a lot to learn, so first I will talk about each of the programs that they have to help you save money.
7 Day Coupons: These are coupons that are inside of Walgreens weekly ad. You will need to clip them out of the ad and give them to the cashier. You can combine a MC and a 7 day coupon.
Register Rewards: When you buy certain products, a Register Rewards or RR will print at the end of your order. They are a coupon that you can use on your NEXT order. “It will say something like $2.00 off your next shopping order.” They usually expire within about 2 weeks of being printed, so this is something to consider.
So for instance, one week there was a cereal RR deal. Buy 3 boxes of General Mills cereal and get $2.00 in RR back. So you pay full price for the cereal (unless you have coupons), then at the end you get your $2.00 coupon to use on your next purchase.
Something to look out for, sometimes they limit what you can use the RR on. For instance, I currently have a RR that says that it can not be used to purchase any P & G products (Procter and Gamble products).
You can read more about Register Rewards here.
A few more tips about shopping at Walgreens:
Before going to Walgreens, I make a list of what I want to buy, how much it will cost and what coupons I will use. It looks something like this:
Dixie paper plates: 2/$3.79 7 day coupon
3 boxes of cereal: 3/$7 -$3 MC / will give me $2 in RR
2 pkgs. Theragran vitamins: $4.99 each, B1G1 free/ FAR(free after rebate)
When I get to the store, I pick up the weekly sales ad. I do this so that I can double check that I am buying the right thing. Sometimes things are marked the wrong price, so I want to make sure that I am buying the right thing.
Check your receipt! I hate to go back and tell them it is wrong because I am a wimp. But you are working hard to save money, don’t let it go down the drain because something didn’t ring up the right way.
Make sure that you get your RR’s.
If a coupon won’t scan most cashiers do not know what to do about this. I usually casually ask if they need to ask a manager. Usually the manager will be able to get things to work.
I know this is a lot of information! Don’t get overwhelmed and if you have any questions leave me a comment, I am happy to help.
17 Comments
June 29th, 2008 at 1:33 am
Wow thanks for the lesson. I am still learning so appreciate the refresher course. I just sent in for my rebate…the question I have is how was I to let them know to reload my card from last time? I did not see any place on the rebate stuff on line to do that so I just asked for another card instead of a check.
June 30th, 2008 at 3:39 am
This was awesome information–thank you very much. I made my purchases and have already requested my rebates online—thanks to your great tutorial! Keep the information coming.
August 11th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Last week was my first week doing the Walgreens thing. Both stores I went to had problems with the RR and one of my coupons, but the managers were very friendly and helpful and took care of it to my satisfaction!
I haven’t seen anyone mention the photo processing deals at Walgreens–they usually have a good promo in the ad.
August 30th, 2008 at 1:16 am
I have two questions, sorry if hey have been addressed but I didn’t see.
1. If I buy an item that gives RR can I use curren RR to pay for it and still get the new RR?
2. Do RR count like cash or a coupon? For instance, if I use the $10/40 can I use the RR to pay for part of the total, or would the use of RR take it under 40 and make it ineligble?
August 30th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
jennlosborne,
1. Usually this should work, but only if it is a separate deal. For example, this week, I could purchase the Clean and Clear and receive a RR, and then pay for the Huggies with that RR and still receive a RR. However, if I purchase the Clean and Clear, receive a RR, and then use it to buy more Clean and Clear, another RR will not print.
2. RRs are coupons. So if you use them with the $10.00 off coupon, it will lower your total, so it is not really beneficial to use.
Hope this helps!
December 10th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
I had my first trip to Walgreens today and my Walgreens won’t let me stack the easy saver book coupons with manufacturer coupons, they will only do the weekly ad coupons with the manufacturer ones. I am really bummed.
December 12th, 2008 at 12:08 am
Coby,
Some stores have started enforcing that rule. Wags corporate made all of the Easy Saver coupons MCs about 6 months ago, but it isn’t an MC, you can’t use it at any store. Bummer!
April 13th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Is it possibe to combine MC coupons at Walgreens? I had a MC coupon print out when I bought something and I also have a MC coupon from Sunday for the same item. Are you able to use both coupons for an item?
April 13th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Hi Emily,
Unfortunately the answer is no. You may only use 1 MC per item.
May 1st, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Hi. Thank you for all you do. I just started using coupons the way poeple like you do. It’s been pretty good, and I’m so hankful for your time and effort!!
Questions.
1. Where do you find RR deals that are not in the ad? For example, I didn’t see RR from Dr. Scholl’s (or even Dr. scholl’s sale price) in this week’s (Apr.26~May 2 2009)ad. I asked a cashier about it before I purchesed them, but she could not find the deal, so she wasn’t sure if I could get RR. I bought them anyway, and got $10 RR.
2. Do you sometimes do two transactions in one visit in order to use RRs soon after you get them? The lady I learned this couponing from said she did, and I think she usually asks the cashier first (She doesn’t do it when there are people waiting.) If you have done this, have you had any cashier that didn’t look happy with what you are doing? I just had that experience today. I’m still a beginner, and I guess I gave them a trouble about Dr. Scholl thing (I had two MCs for Dr. Scholls,and tried to use RRs to pay. I didn’t know that RR were like MCs….). I don’t live close to Walgreens, so I wanted to use the RRs that I had then,(and also to spend less money), so I put the first puechase in the car, and went back to the store. The cashier wasn’t happy when I went to pay for more purchase..
Thanks again !!
May 1st, 2009 at 7:38 pm
There are some deals that are not in the ad, but the Dr. Scholl’s was in mine this week, that is weird it wasn’t in yours. For ones that are not in the ad there are two ways I hear about them. First by reading online forums. What happens is before a RR promotion begins, they will sometimes print a coupon from the RR machine advertising about upcoming promotion and then people will talk about it online.
The second way is when there are monthly RR deals, frequently the stores will advertise them right on the shelf. There will be red stickers on the shelf telling the details of the RR.
And yes I do sometimes do 2 transactions in 1 visit. Usually if you check out at the cosmetics counter they are more accommodating to that. As for non-friendly cashiers, try and make friends with them. When I have cashiers that are like that, I just try to kill them with kindness. If that doesn’t work, try going at a different time when someone else is working!
June 9th, 2009 at 9:02 am
Does Walgreens take internet coupons?
June 9th, 2009 at 9:08 am
Treeswax,
Most do. There are some that don’t. Unfortunately Walgreens does not have a corporate coupon policy and it is left up to managers. If you have a manager that won’t take them, you can try taking this letter to them:
http://coupons.smartsource.com/mnmedia/BottomNavs/LettertoRetailer.pdf
It may help educate them. Hope that helps!
August 9th, 2009 at 10:18 am
I am just starting the coupon endeavor. Recently, at Walgreens, I used a $1.00/2 coupon for Bic pens. I believe the the pens were .49 each or some such price. The cashier would not allow me to use the coupon as it produced an overage of .02. I asked him to adjust the coupon & he was ‘quite hostile’ & told me ‘no way’.
Anyway, what is the method here….1st give the store coupons then 2nd give the MC or Internet coupons? There must be a strategy or method that I am not using. I have not been back to Walgreens since…
Any suggestions
August 9th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
cs,
Using coupons that will produce overage is something that some stores just don’t allow. It is up to each individual manager to govern the rules as Walgreens does not have a corporate policy that all stores abide by. The only suggestion I have is to be sure you have another item to absorb the overage, that sometimes helps.
Cashiers should not be hostile however, and that is something I would take up with the manager of the store. You are a paying customer and should not be treated with hostility.
August 28th, 2009 at 8:44 am
I work at Walgreens. If you use a RR coupon to purchase an item that will give you a new RR coupon, it WILL NOT print you a new one. You are NOT entitled to it. SOME stores (depending on the store manager/district manager) have a policy now that DOES entitle you to a RR even if you used one to purchase the new items, BUT you have to ask the manager because they will not print, they have to re-ring the items with a manager present to get you your coupon. Each district/store is different, so just ask. Another thing, Register Rewards are used like coupons, not cash. If there is a “get $5 off when you spend $25″ sale and you use RR coupons, your $25 total must be AFTER RR coupons, but BEFORE tax. It’s all very confusing, but you’ll get the hang of it. I haven’t paid for toothpaste in years. Another handy trick, if you look on the in-store coupon barcodes, there is a barcode and underneath that barcode there are numbers. To make matters easier the cashier can type in the last four digits of that barcode to enter the coupon rather than scanning it (they don’t always scan). Instead of clipping coupons sometimes I’ll just write down the numbers and have the cashier type them in. Also- sometimes the RR deals are not always in the ad. They are advertised in-store on a red ad tag. There are also “mega-savers” which are not advertised in the weekly ad or on-line- they are ugly yellow ad tags. Make sure to look out for these as well. Hope this was helpful.
August 28th, 2009 at 8:58 am
I forgot, as far as the coupons worth more than the products are selling for (i.e.- the Bic pens, $1 off 2 coupon when they are on sale for $.49)- the policy is that we cannot owe you money. You CAN’T take $1 off of $.98! It’s not possible. The register won’t allow it because it will come up negative and the cash register won’t open. Just doesn’t work that way. If you throw a fit about it though and complain to a manager, sometimes they will allow it just to shut you up (stores get reimbursed from companies for MFR coupons, so they don’t technically lose money). Do the math though, it doesn’t work.
Check for clearance items as well. A lot of items not are being marked down to ridiculously cheap prices, and you CAN use MF coupons on these, as long as they are worth less than the product before tax. They are discontinuing over 20,000 products to change the scenery of the store so a lot of items have to go.
If you are not sure of the policies, ask a manager. Some of the cashiers are misinformed or are too new to really know, so just ask.