Walgreens 101

In my area, Walgreens (Wags) is truly like my neighborhood pharmacy. I LOVE Walgreens and the employees at the store I have couponed at for years can vouch for that.  They have watched my babies enter the world and grow up, they are the first to know when we have a new virus, cold, etc, and they have kept in touch with me even when they have left the store.  Much like their competitor store, they have their own system of money and there is a true strategy to getting items you use everyday for incredibly low prices (you might even find yourself making money.)

What are Register Rewards? A Register Reward (RR) is like “monopoly money” for Walgreens.  Weekly, Walgreens offers deals that give you back RRs.  RRs print out on a machine called a Catalina machine (this machine sits beside the register when you buy your merchandise).  Cashiers will hand you your RRs with your receipt at the end of your purchase.  Most RRs are limited to one per purchase, so keep that in mind.  RRs have an expiration date, so pay close attention to them.  You can use these RRs on ANY* item in the store (not on the same purchase for which you receive the RRs). Walgreens does not have a reward card that must be scanned for you to get a RR.

What kind of Coupons will Walgreens take? Walgreens takes manufacturer (MFR) coupons and store coupons (SC or Wags coupons). There is a little bit of a catch you need to remember when using coupons in a transaction. The number of coupons you use must be the same number or less than the number of items you purchase. If you purchase 5 items, you can only use 5 coupons. Keep in mind, Walgreens considers RRs coupons. When you find yourself in a tight predicament like this, try to find a “filler” item. A filler item is a very cheap item (a $.25 piece of candy) that allows the amount of items you have purchased to come up but the number of coupons have to remain the same.

Where can I find Wags Store Coupons? Email, Weekly Ads, Booklet, Magazines. 1) Sign up at Walgreens to get coupons sent to your email account. 2) Walgreens has coupons in each of their weekly flyers. You do need to use these coupons to get their discount. While many of their sale items do have reduced prices without a Walgreens coupon, some do require you to cut the coupon from their flyer. The good news on these coupons is that if you get 3 items, you only need ONE coupon to reduce the price on all three items. 3) Booklets at Walgreens can range. Sometimes they have kids coloring booklets that have coupons, sometimes they have seasonal booklets (found in the pharmacy with coupons), but each month they have a booklet that is good from the start to the end of the month. This booklet is either found at the front of the store or near the cashier.  4) Take a look in the pharmacy for the Diabetes and You Magazine. It is a free publication.

What order should I give my coupons? I usually give manufacturer coupons, Walgreens coupons, and then register rewards.

What are Rain Checks? Rain checks are issued by the cashier on regularly stocked items that are on sale but no longer available in the store. Unlike CVS, you cannot get a rain check on an item that issues RRs. You can only get rain checks on sale items.  These can work for and against you. They can work for you because a coupon might come out later for your rain check item or this can work against you because you might have a coupon that is about to expire.

What do I, personally, do with my RRS? I don’t use RRs on items I need (unless I have an overflow on extra RRs.) I use my RRs to buy my next RR items.  This means I keep recycling my RRs.  This can be a bit tricky because you need to remember that you cannot use RRs to buy the same RR item. You also need to make sure you don’t have more coupons than you do items (as mentioned above,)

*RRs cannot be used for alcohol, tobacco, prescriptions, and some other similar purchases.

Related Posts:

Walgreen’s Deals HERE

CVS 101 HERE

Eight Tips to Couponing HERE

Couponing Acronyms and Explanations HERE