How to Shop at Walgreens

Walgreens is a store that I love to hate and hate to love. We have a very strange relationship. I have had some incredibly awesome savings by shopping at Walgreens, but poor customer service often ruined the shopping experience for me. I have run into cashiers who don't quite understand their own coupon policy and can make shopping there a real pain. (I think you can have that with just about any store.) One tip that I can give you: find a store and cashier that you love. They can definitely make your shopping trip more enjoyable.

Besides finding an amazing cashier, there a few important things you'll need to know about shopping at Walgreens.

Balance reward card: In order to get the best savings and to keep track of your points (we'll talk more about points later). It's easy to sign up. All you have to do is go into the store and ask for one.

Register rewards: If you look in a Walgreens ad, you may see special offers that allow you to get register rewards for buying certain items. Register rewards print out at the register with a qualifying purchase.

Register rewards are manufacturer coupons that can be used on your next in-store purchase. Unfortunately, you usually can't use a rr from one purchase to buy the exact item that you got the rr from to receive another rr. Confusing?

Here's an example. Look at the picture to the left. Let's say, I paid $2.99 (plus tax) for the reach toothbrush. A $2.00 register reward will then print out from the register. I could use that $2.00 rr to buy another reach toothbrush and pay only $0.99. BUT I would not receive another $2.00 register reward for buying the toothbrush. That's the way it works at Walgreens. You can, however, use a $2.00 register reward that you got from another purchase to pay the toothbrush. You just can't use it to buy the same item.

If you are purchasing three items, using three manufacturer coupons, and one register reward, the cash register will beep and not accept the fourth coupon. This is because the register reward is counted as a manufacturer coupon and you can only use one manufacturer coupon per item. In order to get around this, you would need a small filler--an item that doesn't cost much, but allows you to use the register reward.

Balance Reward Points: Points can be earned on qualifying purchases. Once you have a certain amount of points, then you can use them to buy things in the store. One thing to note: Do not use points to pay for an item that you hope to earn points for.

Take a look at the picture below. I want to buy two bottles of Windex at 2/$6. I have coupons that will bring my total down to $4 instead of $6. I could pay with my 3,000 balance points to leave me with a balance to $1.00 (plus tax). The picture below tells me that I would receive 1,000 points for buying two bottles of Windex. Unfortunately, I wouldn't receive ANY points for this transaction since I used points to pay.

One of the best ways to not confuse register rewards and balance points: Use points to pay for things that will give you register rewards and use register rewards to pay for things that will give you points!

Shopping at Walgreens is definitely confusing in the beginning, but it is very rewarding! I promise! I just started shopping at Walgreens again a few months ago, and I have saved hundreds of dollars. All it takes is getting out of your comfort zone and walk into the store, coupons in hand.

You can find the Walgreens coupon policy here. I would suggest printing it out and taking it into the store with you in case you run into problems at checkout.