Mar 26, 2009

Where to Start with Walgreens? --REVISED


Walgreens has become one of my new favorite places. Every time I go in, I never know what I will find. There are a few things to become familiar with at WAGS.


There is no more Easy Saver Catalog! There will still be rebate offers. These will print on the Catalina machine, like a register reward, and you will have to fill it out and send it in. (ugh)


The Weekly Ad, as its name implies, changes each week. It includes sales, coupons, and lists of weekly Register Rewards (RRs). You can actually find this at least two weeks ahead on HCW.
You don't need to cut out these coupons. You can just let the cashier scan the coupon--it will automatically be applied to however many of the items you are purchasing. Save the paper!


Register Rewards print out after you purchase a specific amount of qualifying items for a promotion. These RR promotions can be monthly or weekly.

A recent example was the Dove RR promo. It stated that you needed to buy 8 Dove items and you would receive $10 in RR. These RR can then be used on your next order. But, you can use your noggin how best to achieve these. In the above example, the trial size soaps work. So you can buy 8 trial soaps at $.99 each (so less than $8) and you receive a $10 RR. It's a moneymaker!

Tip: REMEMBER! You cannot spend a RR on the same type of item and get another RR. Ex. If you took your $10 Dove RR and tried to buy more Dove, the new RR would not print. You have to "roll" them on something else. Spend the $10 Dove RR on another RR deal (like one for Skintimate or something) then take that one and buy more Dove, etc. Or, just take your $10 RR and buy something you need! Remember too, if your RR does not print and you think it should, if the management won't help you, you can call Catalina Co. to send it. However, if it didn't print and you did something incorrect for the promo, don't feel obligated to keep those items. Just return them if you don't need them. You will end up spending more if you keep every mistaken transaction you make. Returning might get a little tricky if you have used a lot of coupons.

The benefit of RRs is turning them into "moneymakers". This is done by combining the RR deal with a coupon. A great example was the recent offer to buy a bottle of Ecotrin for $2 and receive a $2 RR. There happened to be a $2.25 off coupon, so when I bought the Ecotrin and used the coupon, it was free and I earned a $2 RR! So keep your eye out for coupons you can match with RR deals. (Now, since I didn't need the Ecotrin, I was able to put it in my donation box)



With Walgreens, it may sometimes seem that the couponing customer knows more about the system than the employees. You CAN use a manufacturer coupon with a Walgreens coupon. You CAN use a Buy 1 Get 1 (B1G1) coupon with a B1G1 sale--makes it free! The stacking of coupons is what makes Wags fun! Also, their clearance goes dirt cheap. Some stores don't know you can give a coupon for more than the item price. They can either let you have the difference-since the manufacturer will be paying them that, or they can adjust the coupon down to match the price of the item.

Just REMEMBER, they will never give you money back. You always need to spend any overage. Just grab something you need, or find something super cheap to add.

Another Tip: You cannot use more manufacturer coupons than items you have. RR count as a manuf. coupon. So, if you have a coupon for every item you purchase and want to use a RR, grab a filler (the cheapest item you can). The preferred order to give all these coupons is-- RR, then manufacturer coupon, then WAGS coupons. At least give the manuf. before the WAGS!

Wow! That was a lot of info, and probably scared a lot of you off! Walgreens is kind of a jump in and swim sort-of-deal.

You can check out this post by Moms by Heart for some more info. Note the emails she received from Corporate at the bottom of her post. I printed a couple of these and took them to my WAGS. The manager was really surprised how little she knew about the couponing process.

Good luck, and let me know how you're doing!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, geez, my head is spinning, and it feel a bit overwhelmed. But, I know you've figured it out, so I should be able to, too, right? Anyway, I might need you to walk me through this more. Do you come to Springfield's Walgreens? Or is there one in Marshfield? Maybe I could shadow you. :)
Katie

Stephanie said...

I know that was way too much info at one time. Honestly, you should let someone else do the hard work for you, while you get the hang of it. Meaning, find the best deal scenarios posted online, and then have a plan when you go to the store. It all starts to fall into place. I'll share the things I find here. And BTW, I would love to go shopping with you! Yes, we have a WAGS out here. They seem to know me--and a few of them even by name. =)

Lara said...

That's a great explanation! I do the CVS and WAGS deals every week, and have posted some of my good finds on my blog but I never really explained how it works. My father-in-law doesn't understand and think it's magic. :) I'll have to tell him to read your post!

 
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