Walgreens Tutorial

So, as I mentioned previously I was at the hairdresser today. The ladies there know I am a coupon goddess (ok, they used the word “nut”, but goddess is what they really meant), and asked for some help with printable coupons. I directed them to the Printable Coupon Page and the hundreds of printables I have listed there. They asked me a bit more about shopping at Tops, Wegmans and the drug stores. I lost them in the middle of my Walgreen’s explanation, so I promised them a short tutorial. This is actually excellent timing due to the end of the ESR booklet. Things are a changin’ at Walgreen’s.

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Walgreen’s page

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Let’s start with a few basics:

Walgreen’s puts out a weekly flier. The flier can be found both in-store and at Walgreens.com . The flier contains prices of sale items, promotional items, Walgreen’s coupons, Register Reward deals, and mail in refund offers. What is a RR you ask? A Register Reward (RR) is a Catalina offered by manufacturers through Catalina Marketing ((888) 322-3814). More about RR later as they are central to saving at Walgreen’s.

Walgreen’s accepts both a Walgreen’s coupon and a manufacturer coupon on the same product. Walgreen’s coupons may have a posted limit on them, but the machine currently does not enforce that limit. What does that mean to you? If you are purchasing six Widgets for 99¢ each after Walgreen’s coupon regular price $3, and the coupon says “limit 3″, you will get the discount on all six Widgets.

Register Rewards are where the action is. Walgreen’s advertises in the flier as well as in-store RR offers that are weekly and monthly. RR will print out at the register from a small Catalina machine (make sure the light is green signaling the machine is on) when the appropriate items are purchased. There is a limit of one alike RR offer per transaction. So, if I have four different RR deals (from different manufacturers), I don’t have to separate the orders; they can be done all on one order. You can “coupon-loop” (Walgreen’s name for it, most couponers call it rolling) one RR to the next product, but no looping among the same manufacturer.

What does that mean? Well, let’s say I purchase Bayer aspirin. I receive a $3 RR. I want to purchase a Bayer Meter that has a $5 RR. If I use the $3 Bayer aspirin RR to pay for the Bayer Meter, the $5 RR will not print!

Walgreen’s may print the manufacturer sponsor on the front of the RR making it easy to identify which manufacturer sponsored the reward. If you don’t see it on the front, look to the mailing address on the right or left of the RR. The name of the sponsor will be in the mailing address.

A better choice would be for me to purchase a Bayer Aspirin, Receive a $3 RR. Now on my next order, I purchase Colgate Toothbrush (Colgate-Palmolive), use the $3 Bayer RR and Receive a $3 RR on the Colgate Toothbrush. (BTW, these are just examples and not meant to mislead anyone into thinking they are current offers. ) My out of pocket (OOP) cost is $3 and I have two products. So, what do I do next? I put that bag in the car and head back in to the store do it again in reverse! Rinse and repeat as they say.

Register Rewards expire two weeks from date of issue. While the machine will accept expired RR, many cashiers will not. Use them or lose them!

Many grocery stores with Catalina machines will accept Walgreen’s Register Rewards. This is very YMMV, and seems to be mainly Super Valu stores (Jewel, some Albertson’s, Acme, Shaw’s, etc). Ask at your store for details.

Walgreen’s lists unadvertised hot buys and coupons here Some of these coupons are $10/$30, $5/$25, etc. When these are available, know that the in-ad Walgreen’s coupon counts against your total. Manufacturer coupons and Register Rewards do not count against your total.

Occasionally there are booklets at the pharmacy with Walgreen’s and manufacturer coupons in them. These Great Savings Booklets, when available, can be found in or near the pharmacy.

Walgreen’s has discontinued their Easy Saver Booklet, but not month-long coupons or mail in rebates. If there is a month-long coupon available, it will be hanging from a peg near the product. If there is a mail in rebate available, the advertisement will be near the product (small white sign), and the form will print from the Catalina machine. You have two choice for redemption, either snail mail or online at walgreens.com

Walgreen’s is now offering coupons.com coupons via their website Walgreen’s Coupons that may include coupons for Walgreen’s brand items

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Some tips on redeeming RR and manufacturer coupons at Walgreen’s:

Besides the rule to not attempt to use a RR from the same manufacturer and expect another RR to generate, one of the other most important Walgreen’s coupon redemption rules to know is that you must have an item for every RR and manufacturer coupon you are redeeming. Here’s an example:

Stayfree maxi pads are $7 and I want to use a $1 manufacturer coupon and a $5 RR. How does this work? Well, it doesn’t. To the machine I have two manufacturer coupons for the same item. I don’t, but the machine treats the RR as a manufacturer coupon too. So even though my product is $7, my coupons are $6, and one of them is off anything at Walgreen’s (not restricted by law), I can’t use them together. So, what do I do? I find a cheap filler. 75% off candy, 29¢ packs of Walgreen’s tissues, 25¢ subject dividers, Royal Gelatin, etc.

A better example of where this would work is (3) $3 RR = $9. I have (2) $4.29 packs of Kotex = $8.58. I need to make up 42¢ before tax in order to use those three RR. So, I find a 50¢ package of cookies bringing my total to $9.08 satisfying the value of the RR as well as the number of items match the number of coupons … I now have 3 items and 3 RR.

So, 6 items and using 5 manufacturer coupons + 3 RR? You need 2 filler items. 5 items using 5 manufacturer coupons and 1 RR? You need 1 filler item. Etc., etc.

You can use a manufacturer coupon + Walgreen’s coupon on one item.
You can use a RR + Walgreen’s coupon on one item.

When an item is on sale B1G1 you may use two coupons on those products. If you look at Walgreen’s ad, a B1G1 is advertised:
B1G1 (2/$3.99). This helps make a lot of items free.

If you are purchasing an item at Walgreen’s with an in-ad Walgreen’s coupon and a manufacturer coupon, always give the manufacturer coupon first! It saves headaches. This way, if the item is free there are no issues. If the item ends up with overage, make sure you are purchasing something else that will cover the amount of that overage. For example:

Reynolds wrap 89¢ (in-ad coupon) – $1 manufacturer coupon = 11¢ overage

I give the $1 coupon first
I give the in-ad coupon making the price 89¢
Which now means Walgreen’s owes me 11¢.
This is actually bad, so I want to be certain I have something else on my order that costs at least 11¢ to cover that amount.

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Rain checks

If an item is on sale and out of stock (OOS), you can request a rain check. I learned earlier today that you can request a rain check on an item with a RR and the RR will be given to you at that time (I suspect they may give the item free if they don’t have a special card to force the Catalina.) This is highly YMMV as corporate claims to not have a policy about it and leaves it to the manager’s discretion.

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W Card

The W card is a discount prescription plan from Walgreens. The cost is $20 a year for one person or $35 for a family plan. The main benefit of this program as receiving discounts on your prescription medication. You can also receive 10% on all Walgreen’s store brand items purchased, including gift cards! (The gift cards technically are not included so that could change at any time without warning.)

You sign up for the W card at the pharmacy. You will receive a temporary card the same day and your permanent card via mail in 3-4 weeks. You can’t enter CRTs online until you have your permanent card. SAVE YOUR RECEIPTS during that 3-4 week waiting period as. Regardless of what the Walgreen’s site says you can enter these online after your card arrives and receive credit for those purchases. The Walgreen’s Card

By entering your receipts online you will get full credit for the Walgreen’s brand item even if you used an in-ad coupon.
The W card expires one year from the date of purchase and must be renewed by the date listed on the card. The W card is refundable within 30 days of the date of purchase. You cannot purchase a W Card if you are on Medicare.

FAQ

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Hopefully this is not too confusing. Please feel free to ask questions or add input. If you know of any other tips and hints, please add them!

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