Shopping at Walgreens makes it easy to get premium products for less than dollar store prices and sometimes even completely FREE. Before extreme couponing, I used to think Walgreens was expensive in comparison to other grocery stores. Their prices are substantially higher than Wal-mart or Shop and Save if you pay full price for your purchases. What most extreme couponers know about saving money is that stocking up on cheap or free items by matching sales and manufacturer coupons is the key to getting premium products at a cost typically lower than purchasing the non-brand items at full price. It took me a while to figure out how that works, but when I did, I couldn’t beleive the savings. Within a week I had a stockpile of goods in my pantry that filled two 3 foot wide shelves from floor to ceiling.
For example, I never used to buy the expensive Crest toothpastes because I refused to pay five or six dollars for a single tube. However, after combining the Register Rewards with the Walgreens coupons and the manufacturer coupons in order to get one tube of toothpaste for $.25 (25 cents) each, I realized I could start using a better product for less than the full price of the cheaper product. At $.25 a tube, I could buy 8 tubes of toothpast for the same price I was spending on the cheap stuff at full price and I was getting a premium product for less. This is what hooked me on extreme coupon shopping at Walgreens.
In addition to getting premium products at a low cost, Walgreens will typically have at least one item each week that can be obtain completely FREE using their Register Rewards. Register Rewards are like cash that can be used for additional purchases at Walgreens. I like to call them “Walgreens Bucks” because they are only good at Walgreens. Using Register Rewards is easy but it means you have to have the money to pay for the item up front. For example, one week they offered a $2 Register Rewards for purchasing their Ricola Dual Action Cough Drops which were priced at exactly $2.00. After you pay for the item at the register, they provide you with a $2 coupon that is good to purchase anything else in the store. That means (aside from tax) the product is virtually free. The week they offered this sale I did not need cough drops. I didn’t have a cold and neither did anyone in my family. However, the typical shelf life for cough drops is about 2 years (longer if you store them in mylar bags away from any air or moisture). Betting that I would probably use cough drops for myself or a my family within 2 years, I purchased as many bags as I could (before they disappeared off the shelves) and added them to my stockpile pantry. The only thing that would make this purchase even sweeter would have been if I had a coupon for Ricola cough drops from the manufacturer. If I had a $.50 cent coupon for example, the coupon would have paid for the tax and made me money on the purchase (an additional $.50 minus tax).
Before trying to use the Register Rewards at Walgreens there are a few things to consider. They do not give rewards on multiple purchases of the same product. A separate transaction must be made for each purchase in order to get the Register Rewards for that specific product. Some cashiers don’t mind if you make multiple transactions but if they follow their corporate regulations, they typically frown on it or refuse to allow it. Fortunately, there are ways around this. Walgreens is great because there is one on every corner. Making multiple stops to obtain the most product is one way around this rule. You can also make multiple trips to the same store throughout the day or bring your family with you and have each member of the family check out with a separate transaction.
Another mistake made with the Register Rewards is trying to use them to purchase more of the same sale item. Register Rewards are items specific. If Register Rewards are given for purchasing the Ricola and then they are redeemed when buying another package of Ricola, new rewards will not be given. The trick is to use the Ricola rewards on a different product. I like to use the Register Rewards to purchase the same thing every week. Walgreens doesn’t have a restriction on using their Register Rewards to purchase milk which is a restriction set on most grocery stores. Because they offer a competitive price for milk at Walgreens and my family goes through about 2 gallons a day, I typically use the Register Rewards to get my milk for just a few cents each. Using them for diapers and wipes, paper products, or medicines is also a great idea as these goods typically are never cheap or free. You can also use them with other items that offer the Register Rewards, stack them with a Walgreens store coupon, and a manufacturer coupon to make future purchases of other items almost free.
One more restriction on the Register Rewards at Walgreens is that only one coupon per item can be used and there is no cash back after use so the total of the purchase must be more than the amount of the coupon. A $5 Register Reward can not be used to purchase a $3 gallon of milk. However, a $5 Register Reward can be used to purchase two $3 gallons of milk which will cost you $1 plus tax after the Register Rewards are redeemed.
Overall, shopping at Walgreens can really be a huge way to stockpile and save on premium products that are FREE or less than the price of dollar store goods. Because the store is small and the ads for their store are very organized, it is a great place for those who are new to extreme couponing to start and have relatively good success. Walgreens also keeps a huge stack of their ads and coupons in front of every store so they can be picked up with every trip to the store.
To find out what Walgreens will have on sale each week google “Walgreens Weekly Ad Preview” with the date or go to www.walgreens.com and to see which coupons are coming out in the local paper from manufacturers, you can go to www.sundaycouponpreview.com before the ads come out. Comparing the two for matching ads and coupons is the best way to save using the Walgreens Register Rewards.