I am not a Walgreens fan. I think their Register Rewards program is a tad too complicated with a lot of rules that I explain here. It just fries too many of brain cells to roll like a pro.
“Hmmm is this P&G or Unilever?”
“How many items do I have?”
“Now I need a cheap filler.”
And I know my manufacturers! I can’t imagine how a newbie who is unfamiliar with Walgreens and the different manufacturers can do Walgreens, and do it efficiently.
So, I got off the Walgreens-register-reward-merry-go-round months ago. I quasi relapsed because I need to buy papers. I’ve never found a free source, no Dollar Tree stores sell papers in the area, we don’t have 99¢ only stores, so it is two bucks for a newspaper for me. Although now I can get them for $1.60 at Rite Aid if I really want to (I have a 20% discount).
Soooo I decided to do the “lazy roll”.
I basically go in on Sunday morning, get whatever gives full price back in Register Rewards using a manufacturer coupon when possible, take that RR and then flip it immediately into newspapers. With a good manufacturer coupon, this can result in free papers and/or “free stuff”.
Here’s an example of what I did a few weeks ago (note the last order, hubby was along)
Store #1
Order #1
(1) Mucinex spray $7.99
= $7.99
- $2 tear pad coupon (who knows where I found it)
= $5.99 + Received $8 RR
Order #2
(1) Blistex $2.59
(3) Newspapers $2
= $8.59
- $8 RR from order #1
= 59¢ + Receive $2.60 RR (note that Walgreens now allows RR in less than 25¢ increments)
Store #2
Order #1
(1) Mucinex spray $7.99
= $7.99
- $2 tear pad coupon (who knows where I found it)
= $5.99 + Received $8 RR
Order #2
(1) Blistex $2.59
(3) Newspapers $2
= $8.59
- $8 RR from order #1
= 59¢ + Receive $2.60 RR (note that Walgreens now allows RR in less than 25¢ increments)
Order #3
(1) Starbucks Drink $1.25
(4) Lindt Chocolates $1
= $5.25
- (2) $2.60 blistex RR
= 5¢
While I’m quite sure there are Walgreens rollers that can do better, by my lazy-person’s method I got:
$38.41 in merchandise
for $13.21, of which $12 is for newspapers!
My goal is to never, ever have a RR left at the end of Sunday. With the 2 weeks expiration date, I do not want to have to worry about losing this RR. For that I stick to Rite Aid’s 3 weeks and CVS’ 4 weeks.
Do you “do” Walgreens? Lazy or pro method? Are there better alternatives to Walgreens and/or newspapers in your area?
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
The funny thing is that before I used coupons I only shopped at Walgreens. I filled all my prescriptions there and payed full price for all my toiletries there. But when I started trying to use coupons they were not friendly at all. Fast foward 2 years and I don’t even bother stepping inside a Walgreens anymore. I just love CVS and RiteAid and my stockpile is more than I can possibly use, so I started to donate or make gifts baskets. Now it would take more than free stuff to make me go back shopping tat Walgreens.
Hi-
I live in a small town, and only have 1 Wags- no CVS, no Rite Aid (am jealous of you). Anyway, I started 2 years ago, just shortly after my Wags opened. It was pretty ruff for both of us at first- cashiers who didn’t know enough, and myself just learning. Now we have a good relationship and no issues, as the cashiers have been there longer. I agree that sometimes it is a pain to roll, but it is worth it to me! My fillers are usually things I use anyway. My only alternative is WM- I live in the North, and it seems our prices are much higher due to trucking everything up here. So, I don’t really bother with WM.
Thanks for all the info on your site- it has been a great help!
Bobbi do sympathize. If Walgreen’s was my only drug store, I’d do the pro method. Because Rite Aid is sooooo darned easy though, they are the store where I concentrate my shopping Sunday morning.
I’m glad you were able to train your cashiers. A friendly check out experience makes all the difference in the world!
Ann
I used to frequent Wags, but I also find it hard to keep up with RR. My store has low stock, so you have to be the early bird to get the RR worm deals. I let some GOOD RR expire so I am careful with the deals.
When I started couponing I used to shop at RA, CVS and WG. Only for frees or MM of course. At WG I would have counted items v. coupons, look for fillers. Too much work. As if they thought out how to discourage couponers to shop there. Sometimes I would use Sunday paper as a filler but I surely thought it was ridiculous to buy a 30 cents caramel as a filler. So WG was getting old. Like you once said, Ann: When shopping becomes a hassle, well you know the rest. All the frees I could get at WG I could get everywhere else for free or better. So WG was a looser as far as I was concerned. After the departure from the WG my relationship with SCV also gradually has came to an end. Mostly because they did not have a good sale to roll for some time so I liquidated my ECB for some rebate item(s) and did not go back there. I really like their RA SCR program, but now that they have added +Up we shall see what the future unfolds, hopefully they will not phase the SCR out.
I had gotten fed up with wags, too. But, for the last couple of weeks I’ve been using them for Sunday papers (rolling RRs). Right now, I have a lot of spare RRs. We grill out a lot, and we use a propane gas grill. They have gas tank exchanges for pretty much the same price as everyone else. So, with my zarbee profits, I’ll fill my propane tank for 1/2 price!
I’d love to use Walgreen’s for newspapers but they only sell single copies for $2 each and the grocery stores here sell a two-pack of papers for $3. I do use them in a lazy type of way to purchase items that aren’t offered free at CVS, for instance the Coricidin HBP cold medicine my husband needs and the special contact solution for rigid gas permeable lenses that I need. We don’t have a close Rite Aid or I might consider them.
They are right around the corner from my house, and RA is about 15 minutes away. I wish it were the other way around. My Wags is NOT coupon friendly, I dread going in there, I have only done it about 3 times, For diapers last week and SInex this week. I am going to get a pillow pet this week with the RR and be done with Wags. I HATE the one coupon per item!! Now I have to get 3 fillers in order to get a pillow pet for half off. UGH
I bought a newspaper the other day at RA (usually get my 10% discount) and the assistant manager checked me out. It was the only item I purchased, 1 single newspaper, and it came up 10%, he rang it to make it regular price. He didn’t say anything, and neither did I. I wasn’t sure if maybe they aren’t supposed to give the discount on newspapers… ? Hmmm
Hopefully it is a one-off Felicia:
“This coupon is not valid on purchase of prescriptions, prescription co-pays, Medicare or Medicaid prescriptions, lottery tickets, tobacco, alcohol products, money orders, gift cards, prepaid cards, stamps, licenses, other mailing services, online purchases or any other items excluded by law.”
That is what it says under the wellness+ redemption. Let’s put it this way, the machine would not give you the discount if not allowed by law.
Ann
Haha! I started out learning Wags first.. It was interesting.. I dont suggest it myself.
I dont go in there too much anymore..but I will if I see a deal I really like.. My stores have gotten more coupon friendly.. or maybe I’ve gotten a little wiser.
I still get my newspapers home delivered..and I get them for right at half the price I could get them on Sunday anywhere else.
I dont count on there always being something I want to roll at Wags..(or anywhere else) but if it works.. great!
Funny you should post this Ann…I thought about contacting you yesterday but then thought I would give you a break with all my questions. At least until Friday or Saturday gets here. (O;
I have a lot of RR that built up over the past two weeks and I am seeing that they will be difficult to use. My visit on Sunday confirmed that. Hate that I can’t use them on something if I use a coupon!
I will probably check out some other walgreens that are close by and see if their sunday paper has both RP and SS and start using the RR for papers.
Bummed that it doesn’t work out as nice as RA. I also am somewhat frustrated with CVS…don’t like the limit one and it is kept track of on my card. )O: I do have two cards, may need to start using that second one for the good deals.
Jennifer if you are near a Supervalu store, they accept them (the Walgreens RR). Otherwise, you have to figure out something you “need” at Walgreens.
Ann
Jennifer,
I started with Wags and it takes to much thinking for me, I stick to RA unless it is a $2 or more mm. You can try to use coupons that are $$/2 + rr = 2 items and 2 coupons. Now would also be a good time to buy clearance halloween pencils ect. I have gotten cl holiday stuff for as little as .05 cents. Those cl items (fillers) are cheap and help with the item count/coupon ratio. It is ridiculous that you have to do this, so that is why I pass on a lot of the freebees.
I agree. I almost always grab Hunt’s tomato sauce, mandarin oranges, mushrooms, jello or something like that to use as a filler. They are usually cheap and I’ll use them eventually anyway.
Am I wrong? I have a two dollar coupon on Secret deoderant a $5.00 coupon that says buy one Secret get $5.00 off any Olay Bar, body wash or Hand and Body lotion. Walgreens would Not let me use the two coupons together. Said I could use one or the other but not both?
No Barb you are not wrong. But neither is your store. This is called coupon stacking… you buy secret and olay, you get money off the olay for buying the secret, but nothing off the secret itself, so you use an additional cents-off coupon on secret.
However in some areas (metro NYC is my main familiarity) it is a “no way, no how” regardless of how you try and present it.
This is one where if a “scan it and see if it works” does not work for you, you will have to make a choice of which coupon you want to use or even do the deal.
Ann
I get a subscription nzpr and then the rest are free. I have a family member in the travel industry who gets them for me for free. I hate when he goes on vacation, no inserts or very few. Selfish, I know. No Wags nearby and the Paper is 2.50 at stores, or 2 at Rite Aid.
When I first started couponing and was reading other blogs they were all “nuts” about WAGS. So I went there and was treated rudely, had my cpns refused etc, etc…
Since learning more and finding your blog Ann, I have “relearned” my original coupon craze. I now have learned what a “good deal is, or better yet a true money maker”… see, a money maker to me is not having to “buy an item” in order to get the money back.. hello, I still have to dish out the bucks.
Yeah.. WAGS, no matter how my favorite store treats me (way, way far away from me, sans the one close to me w/ the *Bad Toupe Olive Police Patrol* sticker on his forearm), even though they love to see me… the bottom line is, RA and CVS rock re: in my book compared to WAGS, soooo WAGS, LEARN SOMETHING WILL YA!!!!!
I started with Wags and … I loved it. I honestly loved the complexity of it all. I was good at it too. Then I took a break and after the break I found way too many RRs that I had forgotten to use GRRRRRRR!
I decided to give R.A. a chance and fell in love with it more than Wags so I’m done with Wags now.
I get one subscription paper delivered every Sunday and then get about 20ish +/- for free on top of that. All the inserts come in handy for the MM deals so I can buy all the diapers my little kids can imagine
And all our other non food items too.
How the heck do you get that many for free!! Share the wealth haha
LOL! Well, I dumpster dive. I’ve put a lot of work into it to find the right dumpster(s) to know exactly when to go and where. (paper dumpsters that is) Sometimes I miss weeks (rarely) when I forget to go at the right time but my hubby helps me out also.
If this is something you want to do I’d say #1 STAY OUT OF MY DUMPSTER, LOL! #2 check out your paper dumpsters on a daily basis, look for obvious paper carrier dumps.
#3 once you find one that a paper carrier dumps in check it every day for when they throw their Sunday papers in #4 figure out when the paper retriever truck comes and takes it all away. By the time you do all the above you’ll know when to go and how long you have until they are gone.
“If this is something you want to do I’d say #1 STAY OUT OF MY DUMPSTER, LOL!”
That cracked me up, but it is so true. If you find “the” dumpster for coupons in your area, never share that info. I’m serious. Most people will respect “your” dumpster, but there is always one person who says “finders keepers”.
Ann
HAHA, you’re so funny! I will make sure I steer clear of your dumpster!
So, it’s the recycle dumpsters right? I have looked in the 3 that my kids have at their school but I can never find any! What about the post office? What do you think the newspaper people do with the extra’s? After Sunday is over? How would I find out?
If you get a home delivery you might be able to talk to your delivery person and cut a deal with them. I’ve done deals with local gas stations but I’m too fickle and show up on different days. Dumpsters don’t care when or if you show up so there’s no relationship issues
You can go to the Paper Retriever website and look up the locations of dumpsters in your area to start with. Don’t look just one day either or the same day each week. It took me almost of month of checking the same dumpsters before I figured out which ones were good. Then it took me several weeks of trial and error to figure out the newspaper drop schedules and the Paper Retriever’s pick up schedules.
It really does take time, patience and work for this to work but it’s worth it in the end.
Our town is infested with Walgreens stores and given their consistently bad treatment of couponers (including myself), I pretty much detest them and don’t shop there unless I can get something for free, which isn’t often. If you factor in all the restrictions of the RRs, the fact that their RRs don’t roll, and all the couponing restrictions, it just isn’t worth it. Do you know that Walgreens will only allow one coupon per item, and that INCLUDES your RR? So if you go to the register with five items, five coupons and one RR to help pay for it all, you will lose the value of one of those coupons and not be able to use it. This is fact because it’s happened to me several times, so I have to choose between using a mfg coupon (legit) or a RR (also legit). Also, if you really do the math, you’re not getting anything truly for free unless you’re willing to spend your RRs on items that DON’T generate a RR, which makes your deal half price, not free. It’s a sleazy store chain, and their deals…really aren’t.
That just happened to me with the Sinex. I was using two MANF coupons and 1 $1 RR and I had to buy a stupid .34c candy in order to use the RR. Which in my part was stupid bc I didn’t even want or like the candy. BUT in my defense, this was the first time ever at WAGS with a RR. I don’t like them, and I probably won’t be shopping with them ever.
i drove out of my way (unusual) to give wags a shot tonight – forget about it, i was so exasperated after being there for an hour that i left as soon as i could get my rrs to match my investment and guess i will have to go back to use them – i had already thought i may just buy papers and milk and call wags done in my book – rite aid a block away is a breeze and i don’t have time for all the intricacies of wags coupon policy!
Luv this post………..I am a Wags person. Tried RA, didn’t work for me, extremely rude at that time. But like many, I don’t like having RR sitting around. I use them on cards. I am always in need of birthday, anniversary, get well, etc. cards. I like to give a nice card and Wags Hallmark cards usually fit the bill. So another thought on using those pesky RR.
OMG Dumster diving! Love it!!
hahaha….I feel the same way about Walgreens:) I have only been couponing for about a year and gave up on Walgreens when I saw how easy CVS was:) Did not know think about buying the papers, though. Great idea!
This is a great idea for getting papers! I only wish my local papers had all the coupons. I have resorted to ordering full inserts from a FL coupon company. I can’t believe how may coupons are in these inserts and we maybe get 1/3 of them in NY.