The last couple of weeks, I wrote about how to save money at CVS and Rite Aid. I’m saving Walgreens for last, because it’s the store that I have the most problems with. It seems (to me anyway) like many of the coupon policies are decided at the store level, so it varies from store to store.
Recently, Walgreens did away with the Easy Saver Rebate program, which was one of my favorite parts about shopping at Walgreens (because it was easy, and I never had problems with it). Apparently they plan on replacing the program with something else, but they have not announced anything new. I will edit this post when that changes.
However, Walgreens does have several different programs:
Register Rewards – these are similar to the CVS ECB’s, since you need to make a purchase of a certain item, and a catalina coupon will print out at the end of your order called a Register Reward (RR). The RR is treated like a coupon when you pay for your next purchase. Usually, the RR’s are valid for about 2 weeks. There are a few caveats for RR’s:
- RR’s are not tied to a loyalty card, so you can make a purchase and receive RR’s as many times as you wish.
- You cannot roll RR’s. What this means is that you cannot get RR’s for doing a Kellogg’s deal and then use the RR’s you just received to pay for the Kellogg’s deal again. If you do that, your RR’s will not print the second time. However, you could use them to do another RR deal from a different manufacturer and then roll the RR’s between the 2 deals.
- Some stores vary on whether you can use more than one RR to pay for your purchase. I was told once that I could only use 1 RR coupon per transaction. However, that seems to vary by store (and possibly cashier).
- I can’t seem to get any consistency on the RR’s printing out for me. Sometimes when I use coupons, they won’t print, even though I purchased the correct item. Other times, I have no problems. When the RR’s don’t print, and I know they should have, I will ask to speak with a manager to see if they can get the RR’s to print for me. If they still don’t print, I will usually ask to return the item (since I’m usually only making the purchase because of the RR deal). Some managers have told me that you can’t use coupons and still get RR’s, but I believe that varies widely by store.
In Ad Coupons - The weekly store flyer usually includes several in-ad store coupons that you can stack with manufacturer coupons for even greater savings. Usually, you will only need 1 in-ad coupon even if you are purchasing multiples of that item (up to the limit on the coupon).
The Art of Using a Coupon at Walgreens – it can be tricky sometimes to use coupons at Walgreens, and there is a strategy to it:
- Have as many items as you have coupons – the registers are set to beep if you have more coupons than you have items. So, if you have a manufacturer’s coupon, an in-ad store coupon, and a RR when you are checking out, you will need to have at least 3 items in your transaction. Find some filler items that you can add to your purchase that are inexpensive (and needed).
- Give your coupons to the cashier in this order: RR’s, then manufacturer coupons, then in-ad store coupons to avoid any problems with your order. You might want to keep them in bundles and hand each bundle to the cashier at a time.
Have you had a good experience at Walgreens? Did I miss any tips that you find useful at Walgreens? Have you changed your shopping habits at Walgreens since they discontinued the Easy Saver Rebate program? For more ideas that work for others, please visit We are THAT Family.
Last week, my family and I went camping for the long 4th of July weekend. Camping is one of the best frugal vacations there is (well, I guess staying at home would be even more frugal). We only paid $21/night for our site and we are able to cook and eat at our site (no restaurant expenses).
