How to play the Walgreen's game - and WIN!

I have several friends who are new to the Walgreen's phenomenon, so I think it is time to do a post about all the great deals to be had at Walgreen's and how to get them!

There are 4 tools that you can use to get the best possible deals at Walgreen's, manufacturer's coupons, Easy Saver Catalog (coupons and rebates), the weekly Walgreen's ad, and Register Rewards.

Manufacturer's Coupons
Get your manufacturer's coupons from the Sunday paper, printed from the Internet, a coupon train, tear pads in stores, or wherever you can find them. Have a good organized system that works for you. Manufacturer's coupons can be "stacked" with Walgreen's coupons for even more savings (in other words you can use a manufacturer's coupon in addition to a Walgreen's specific coupon).

Easy Saver Catalog

The Easy Saver Catalog comes out around the 27th of the month for the next month - and you can start using it when it comes out. They are booklets located at the Walgreen's store. I have seen them everywhere in the store, so you shouldn't have a problem finding one. View the current Easy Saver Catalog here. This month's catalog is typical and is about 67 pages. It contains 26 pages of store coupons 2 or 3 per page. The best part about these store coupons is that they can be "stacked" as I mentioned above.


Here is an example:

There is a coupon in this month's catalog on page 10 for $2.50 off 1 Pert Plus. Within the past few months there have been coupons for Pert Plus in the newspaper from $1.50 to $3.00 off. Pert Plus has been on sale for $3.49 at local Walgreen's.

Walgreen's Sale Price $3.49

Walgreen's In Store Coupon -$2.50

Manufacturer's Coupon-$1.50

You end up with an overage of $.51!

This is okay because Walgreen's gets reimbursed for the Manufacturer's coupon from the manufacturer, so they are not out any money and you earn 51 cents for buying it!

The other part of the Easy Saver Catalog are the Rebate Items. You can purchase the rebate items, submit your receipts online, and get a check or gift card for all of your rebates. If you choose to get a gift card you get 10% more back, so a $1.00 rebate turns into $1.10. You can also keep the same gift card and Walgreen's will reload it with your rebates each month. It takes about a month to get your initial gift card, but it only takes about 4-5 days for Walgreen's to reload it once you have received your first one. My goal is to purchase my rebate items with my gift card each month so there is no out of pocket expense. It took a few months of rebate shopping to get to the point where I have a decent amount on my gift card that I can usually do this.

At the beginning of the rebate section (this month is page 36) are always items that are FREE after rebate. On of the items this month is L'Oreal Cleansers. The regular price is $7.99. You purchase the item in the store for $7.99 then you get a rebate for $7.99, so all you pay is tax. If you put your rebates on a gift card, you get that additional 10%, so you will get an additional $.79. If you have a manufacturer's coupon for any of the free items, you can use them when you purchase then it turns the item into a moneymaker!

I always get the FREE after rebate items then peruse the rest of the catalog for things I would probably buy anyway. I always purchase these in conjunction with a manufacturer's coupons so for the best possible savings. An example would be the scrubbing bubbles and Halloween candy I recently blogged about here.

Also, I have found that if you purchase multiple items and use an in store coupon from the Easy Saver Catalog it will take the coupon amount off of each item. An example would be the SoftSoap I purchased earlier this month, check it out here.

Walgreen's Weekly Ad
Each week Walgreen's puts out a weekly ad in the Sunday paper (you can also get copies of the ad in the store). There are usually several great deals with the instore coupons. Again, you can use these in conjunction with manufacturer's coupons for the best possible savings. The weekly ad also puts out any new Register Reward deals for the week. Which takes us to...

Register Rewards
I love these! A Register Reward (RR) is a coupon that prints on a separate printer at checkout. When your transaction is complete the cashier will give you your receipt and the RR. The RR can be used toward your next purchase of any item in the store over the value of the RR (i.e. for a $3.00 RR you can't purchase a $2.50 item and get change back). I have had come cashiers tell me you cannot use more than one RR in a transaction, but I have done it many times with success.

I have found that not all items that will give you a RR are marked in the store. The Glade Flameless Candle was not marked in my store, but it did work. Arm yourself with your weekly ad in case you encounter any problems. I have never had a RR not print.

An important note - you cannot "roll" a RR. For example, I got $3.00 back for purchasing a Glade Flameless Candle. I cannot purchase another using that RR and still have another RR print, but I can use an RR from another promotion. In this deal I used an RR from the SoftSoap RR promo, so it printed fine.

So that's the basic scoop - I know this is a lot to take in, especially if you are new to coupon shopping, but trust me it gets easier! Please let me know if I can answer any additional questions or clarify anything.