Walgreens – The "Secret Rules" And Great Deals

So you have shopped at Walgreens for some quick, I need some cold medicine, trips right? And you really have never taken advantage of their deals, right? Well we are going to change all that. You will look at Walgreens completely differently from now on. I will show you how you can actually make “money” at Walgreens and use that “money” to buy things you really need and want. I say the word “money” but it’s really Register Rewards, which are just like money, however you can only use them at Walgreens. Let me explain…

What is an RR?

An RR (short for Register Reward) is a Catalina coupon that prints out at the register at the end of your transaction. This RR can be used on your next order. An RR will print for an item in the amount that is advertised in Walgreens current circular. Sometimes there are “hidden” RR deals that are not advertised in the current circular but are good for the whole month.

How to make money at Walgreens:

Walgreens teams up with various manufacturers to offer deals in their stores. Sometimes the deals are okay and sometimes they are great. A great deal would be something like this. Buy St. Ives bodywash for $2.99 and get $2.99 in RR (see an example of this below). The even better thing is that you can use a coupon to reduce the price of the body wash ($1.50/1). So now instead of paying $2.99 you are now paying $1.49 and you will STILL get that RR at the end of the transaction. So you have now made a profit of $1.50 and you can use (or roll) that Catalina coupon in the amount of $2.99 and purchase whatever you want.

The Rules of Walgreens:

Of course it was never going to be that easy. There are a few simple rules you have to follow in order to make your transactions run smoothly. I want you to understand that me telling you these rules is like being in a secret underground society. Why, because even the cashiers and managers don’t know the rules. Okay, so these are not secret and there is no underground society, however, it sure seems that way when you run into a coupon issue and they (cashiers and managers) have not a clue and rattle off all these rules that just simply are not true. Be polite, listen and know that you are in on the “secret rules”. So you, my savy coupon shoppers, need to know these Walgreens secret rules corporate policies.

1. You can use a manufacturers coupon on an item and it will produce an RR
2. You can use an RR to pay for a transaction of different product which offers an RR and it will produce an RR. (see #6 below for the exception)
3. RRs are considered a manufacturers coupon
4. Walgreens coupons from the circular are considered store coupons not manufacturers coupons
5. You can use a manufacturer coupon along with a Walgreens coupon
6. You can not use an RR to pay for the same product or even from the same company to get another RR deal. For instance if you purchased the St. Ives as I mentioned above and received your $2.99 RR you can not use that RR to buy another St. Ives.
7. Only 1 RR will print out per transaction for the same item. For instance, if you purchased 2 St. Ives only 1 RR would print. However, if you purchased 1 St. Ives and another RR deal item both would print.
8. This one is a little bit tricky but very important. You have to have the same number of manufacturer coupons per items in one transaction. Keep in mind that an RR is considered a manufacturer coupon. For instance, if you had 2 items in your transaction and you had a manufacturer coupon for each item and you wanted to use an RR in the transaction, then you would have to put in a small filler item so the register will not beep. It could be a $.10 item (if you can find them). Just as long as there are 3 items for the 3 manufacturer coupons you were using.

I figured that showing you an example of these rules and deals would be the easiest way for you to learn. It just so happens I had a great Walgreens trip(s) today so I can use my most recent deal. Here is what I bought:

Transaction #1:

1 St. Ives $2.99
1 Newspaper $2.00
-$1.50 St. Ives coupon
-$2.00 RR (I had this from last weeks deals)
Total with tax: $1.70
used a gift card to pay
Total OOP: $0
Received $3.00 RR for the St. Ives

Transaction #2:

1 Purex 3-1 $5.99
2 J&J Baby Powder $2.00
1 Newspaper $2.00
-$2.oo Purex
-$1.00 J&J
-$1.00 J&J
-$3.00 RR (from the St. Ives deal)
Total with tax: $3.55 OOP
Received $2.00 RR for the Purex & $1.00 for the J&J<

Transaction #3:

2 J&J Baby Powder $2.00
1 Newsaper $2.00
-$1.00 J&J
-$1.00 J&J
-$2.00 RR (from the Purex deal)
Total with tax: $.14 OOP
Received $1.00 RR for the J&JTransaction #4:
1 St. Ives $2.99
1 Newspaper $2.00
-$1.50 St. Ives
-$1.00 RR from the J&J
Total with tax: $2.70 OOP
Received $3.00 RR for the St. Ives deal

Transaction #5:

1 St. Ives $2.99
1 M&M $.67 (filler)
-$1.50 St. Ives
-$1.00 RR for the J&J
Total with Tax: $1.41
Received $3.00 RR for the St. Ives deal

Summary:

Started with a $2.00 RR
Paid $7.80 OOP
Now have $6.00 in RR

So now you can see how you can roll your RRs and get your out of pocket lower. I paid $7.80 for all of that and I have $6.00 in RRs left after only using a $2.00 RR. The newspapers alone were $8.00 for all 4. Not a bad deal.

Now some of you are thinking, wow that is a lot of work. Well, I don’t find it work, I actually enjoy it. It’s fun to try to see how much you can get for very little. However, no one is saying you have to do that many transactions. Like everything in life, you can choose how much or how little you would like to do. This is only a guide for you to go by. Give it a try…I promise you that it fun to save. No one has ever complained because they saved too much money.

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