The Frugal Beach Bum: Walgreens Register Rewards a Closer Look! Here's some help!

Caging The Walgreen's Weasel - $15.05 for $1.54!

Have you ever heard about the Walgreen's Weasel? He's the little guy who goes through your list, your coupons both store and manufacturers, your register rewards and your plan RIGHT as you walk up to the checkout and causes you to get beeps and funny looks from all over, including the cashiers and the people in line behind you! We're gonna put him back into his cage today! I'm going to help you debunk the issues of rolling Walgreen Register Rewards with an easy look through my most recent trip!

First of all, your very first trip to Walgreens you will need to spend *collective gasp* cash! Once you begin your Walgreens adventures, you should be able to keep a rolling stock of Register Rewards to keep this from happening on a grand scale each time you're in there. Having that said, each person is different in their quest for a "sweet deal"! What I am working on will be different than what you are looking for in most cases!

First and foremost get familiar with their coupon policy which you can find HERE. In fact, print it out and take it with you until you are comfortable with their system. Its always nice to show it to a new or uninformed cashier rather than folding in your deal and going home. If you are wrong, then you can learn by this and the cashier/manager will be happy to help you find out why. Just don't rant, rave and accuse or they won't want to see you come in again.

"In the event that any item's selling price is less than the value of the coupon, Walgreens will only accept the coupon in exchange for the selling price of the item. Coupon redemption can never exceed the selling price of an item and no cash back is ever provided in exchange for any coupons." Quoted directly off their policy. What this means is this...if said item is on sale 2/$4.00 and you have 2 coupons that are valued at $2.25, you will receive both items for free ($2.00ea) but you will not receive overage in the form of cash in any way, this includes off the remaining items in your basket. Again from the policy: "The coupon amount must be reduced if it exceeds the value of the item after other discounts or coupons are applied. (For example, a $5.00 coupon for a $4.99 item will result in a $4.99 coupon value)."

"The number of manufacturer coupons, including Register RewardsTM manufacturer coupons, may not exceed the number of items in the transaction. (This is a VERY key point and one that will probably pull this whole mystery together for you). The total value of the coupons may not exceed the value of the transaction. Sales tax must be paid, if required by state law." Quoted directly off their policy. What this means is just what it says. If you have a Register Reward for $6.00 but you bought 4 items all with coupons, that Register Reward won't be accepted...you need to put into your order a "filler item". A filler item is ANY item of choice to bring your ITEM total to 5 instead of 4. If you choose a 50¢ filler item from near the register (yes, they place them there strategically for those of us who are in this situation), then you will be able to use that $6.00 Register Reward against your total purchase, so you will get $5.50 value out of it plus a candy bar or whatever you chose.

Coupon Stacking at Wags....

In a nutshell, if its a Walgreens ad or booklet coupon and it does NOT say Manufacturers Coupon on it, YES, it will stack with your manufacturers coupon =) and yes, it will stack with a RR as they are manufacturers coupons.

More on Register Rewards....

1. If you dont get the deal for the RR that particular week, no, there are no rainchecks to have that RR print after the sale is over. Unlike CVS where you can get a raincheck and no matter when it is, you will get your ECBs to print.

2. No substitutions for a RR deal....no, if you buy the 16oz and the 12oz had the deal...then no, you wont get the RR on it...you have to be specific per their ad deal.

3. If you get a RR back for say...the South Beach bars (like today) for $6.00. No, you cannot roll that and buy another box expecting another RR to print...it wont. So you must roll that RR onto another item....but, if you have in your hand a RR for $6.00 say from anything else you bought...maybe a type of vitamin, then yes, you can use that for the South Beach bars (minus any other manufacturers coupons) and another RR will print if that is the current offer.

4. Register Rewards expire TWO weeks from time of print...so if you dont use them...then that high dollar savings is lost and you can no longer claim it ;)

Here is Walgreens list of items you cannot use a RR to buy...

o Prescriptions
o Tobacco products
o Alcoholic beverages
o Dairy products
o Lottery tickets
o Money orders/transfers
o Transportation passes
o Special event/entertainment tickets or passes
o Postage stamps
o Gift cards/phone cards/prepaid/Green DotTM cards
o Prescription Savings Club" memberships
o Health care services, including immunizations
o Any items prohibited by law

One of the biggest questions I am asked is this..."If it's a BOGO special do I have to buy both items, and if I do have to buy both, can I use 2 coupons (one for each) on the pair?" Yes you do, and yes, you can =) But even bigger is this....if you see a BOGO sale and get both items, you can use a BOGO coupon for that same item if you have one...making them both free! Keep in mind you always pay sales tax on the purchase price before coupons! Here is another little excerpt from their policy: "When items are featured in a Buy One, Get One Free promotion, up to two coupons can be used against the items being purchased, as long as the net price does not go below zero for the items being purchased. Sales tax must be paid for any Buy One, Get One Free coupon offers, if required by applicable state laws."

Another good question is.... "Can I use the Register Rewards at Harris Teeter or Lowes or anywhere they accept manufacturers coupons from other stores?" This I've not actually done myself as I like to roll the Register Rewards from trip to trip because I feel I'm getting a better deal by doing that for non-food items like vitamins and higher priced health and beauty needs. HOWever, I've read from several sources, it is up to your manager at your local store as to if they will take them...the fact that they say "manufacturers coupon" on them is your keyphrase to show the manager!

"Can I split my things into separate transactions?" As long as you dont try to roll a RR for one product onto that same product for the next transaction and expect a RR to print, it wont. The cashiers will not mind splitting it up for you, but out of courtesy it is always nice to let them know what you intend to do so they have the option to take you back to cosmetics where no one is going to be held up in line (I personally do this)

Walgreens can be a very fun place to shop once you get the Walgreen's Weasel back into his cage! It is a very lucrative process when it's done correctly! =)

Here is an example of what this is all about....I did this today at Walgreens:

I started with ONE $1.00 Register Reward and ONE $6.00 Register Reward and a coupon for South Beach, Puffs, Glad and ThermaCare...(I noticed when I got to the store that my $1.50 off Thermacare was only good for the 2ct+ and their special was for a trial size of 1 so that coupon was a no go)...so I had 3 coupons + my RR = 5. Note I have 5 items =)

[Now...had my ThermaCare coupon been on the trial size as well, then I would have had SIX or too many for my 5 items. My plan was to grab a candy bar with an ad coupon for 49¢ to use as my "filler".] But it didn't so I had to adjust =)

*** see that little booklet beside the Puffs and ThermaCare? That booklet is one of your tools to get the most out of your Walgreens deals...it contains store coupons which will stack with manufacturers coupons =) They put it out once a month and this particular book is valid 1/1-1/28/12. You can find them on the rack with the weekly ads inside the door of your favorite Wags!

I used $1.00 off South Beach Bars, 25¢ off Puffs which stacked with the coupon in the ad for 99¢, $1.00 off the Glade. I had the in store coupon for Ajax at 99¢. What I used to fill the other 2 coupon spots were 2 RR I had from last week, 1 for $6.00 and 1 for $1.00
Here' your breakdown...

Regular retail on all items = $15.05
Subtotal I pad OOP before tax = $4.20
What I received back in Register Rewards = $9.75
Since I started with $7.00 in Register Rewards, I can really only claim $2.75 back as we cannot count those twice =)

Therefore, all my product from Walgreen today cost me $4.20 - $2.75 = $1.54! Remember that $1.50 off coupon I couldn't use on Thermacare??? Had that one been ok to use, my total would have been 45¢ which was my goal today =) HOWever, these deals happen a lot, so I'll just take my $9.75 back in RR next week and work some magic!