NEW TO WALGREENS SHOPPING? START HERE

Walgreens can be difficult to get the hang of at first, but once you understand the "rules" you can really get come awesome deals there. I made my fair share of mistakes in the beginning, but I have to say it's definately my FAVORITE store! I'm there at least 3-4 times a week! Here are some of the things you should familiarize yoursef with before you enter a Walgreens.

WHAT ARE REGISTER REWARDS?

Register rewards (RR) are coupons from the Catalina machine that print after you make a qualifying purchase. Most RRs are "On Your Next Order" (OYNO) which can be used like cash on your next order. (Sometimes you may receive a Catalina for $ off a particular item or an advertisement for an rr deal.)

HOW CAN I GET A RR?

Buy the exact items advertised to receive rr. Using coupons on these items should not affect whether your rr prints. Unfortunately, it seems that a few stores have their registers programmed so that rr will not print if coupons are used - but if this is true, it is very rare.

If you complete more than one register rewards deal in one transaction, one reward for each different RR deal should print, but you will not receive more than one rr for the same deal.

If you purchased the right items and didn't get rr, you can return the items on the spot or call the Catalina company @ 888-322-3814. Have your receipt in front of you, they need some info from it, and they'll be able to see if the machine was working and if you bought the right products. It does tend to take a few minutes for the call, and then you have to wait to get the rr, which takes 6 - 8 weeks.

HOW CAN I USE A RR?

Generally, you can use your rr like cash on your next purchase, but of course there are exceptions.

Most rr's explicitly say that they can not be used on tobacco, alcohol, tax, lottery tickets, money orders, stamps, dairy, or any gift cards or pre-paid cards. However, some stores still allow rr's to be used on some of these items.

As stated in the fine print, you cannot use more rrs and manufacturer coupons than number of items you are buying. This is called coupon to item ratio. As long as you are buying as many items as you have rr & manufacturer coupons, you should be able to use more than one rr. Store coupons do not affect how many manufacturer and rr's you can use. If you don't have enough items, grab something for a quarter or less and use your rr for that item. The amount doesn't matter.

You cannot "roll" rr's into the same deal 99% of the time. For example, if you use an RR from Kellogg's to purchase more Kellogg's items, you will NOT get another rr. The best way to "roll" is to use your Kelloggs rrR to complete a different rr deal. You can then use the rrs from the 2nd deal, to purchase more Kelloggs.

HOW CAN I USE COUPONS?

If you are using a manufacturer's coupon and a wags coupon on the same item and hoping for overage towards your other items, give the manufacturer's coupon first. A manufacturer's coupon will be rejected by the register if it is over the cost of the item, but a wags coupon will go through.

The registers will not accept more manufacturer coupons/rr than items, so if want to use rr, but already have a manufacturer's coupon for each item, you can add a small "filler" item for each rr. use the cheapest items you can find (single pencils are good.)

Thanks I heart wags for a lot of this information!

MORE ABOUT USING COUPONS

 

Walgreens puts out at least 2 coupon booklets per month. These can be found at the beginning of each month near the front door where you pick up the weekly ad. They also put out a few extra coupon booklets throughout the year. Many of these you have to request at the Pharmacy.

 

Keep in mind that you can stack Walgreens coupons with Walgreens coupons as long as they have different bar codes. Check out this post to prove it.