April 24th Walgreens Trip

After checking out the Walgreens Ad for the week of 4/24 and matching up coupons I decided to pick up a few moneymakers. I ended up doing 6 transactions, which is a lot, but needed to be done to keep out of pocket costs low and still guarantee that I recieve all of my Register Rewards (RR).

Walgreens can be a difficult store to shop in if you're just starting out because of all of their rules. Basically if you purchase an item that has a RR and you want 2 or more of the same item you'll have to do them in seperate transactions because only one like RR will print at a time. Also, Walgreens will not allow you to purchase an item use a coupon AND a RR......they want an equal # of items to coupons/RR. So, if you have 1 RR and a coupon you'll need to purchase 2 items (the 2nd could be a .30 piece of candy or whatever you find cheap). Finally, if you purchase a P&G item and recieve a RR and you want to purchase another P&G item that has a RR you can not use your first RR on it and expect to get the new one.

For example: Buy 1 Tide @ $6.99 get $2.00 RR back. If you purchase a 2nd Tide @ $6.99 use your $2.00 RR you will NOT get another $2.00 RR back. However, if you use a RR from Hershey you can use it on your Tide purchase and still recieve the new RR.

Have I confused you? If so, you're not alone. Walgreens takes some trial and error to get. This is why I recommend new couponers to start with CVS and/or Rite Aid. When you're ready to give Walgreens a try start SMALL. 

Here's the Walgreens Coupon policy. I recommend printing it and keeping it with you just in case you come across a cashier who doesn't know the rules. It's great to have something to point to that says he/she is suppose to do it (of course in a super nice/helpful way)!

Ok, so here's what I ended up doing.

Tran #1: Purchase 1 Package of Stayfree pads @ $2.99
              Use $1 off 1 stayfree pad printable
              Paid $1.99 plus tax and recieved a $3 RR
Tran #2: Repeat Tran #1
Tran #3: Repeat Tran #1
Tran #4: Repeat Tran #1 (by now I have a total of 4 $3RR=$12)
Tran #5: Purchase 2 11 oz Folgers Coffee @ $2.79
              Purchase 2 M&M filled easter eggs @ .99 each
              Use 2 - $1 off 1 Folgers from the 4/10 Redplum (RP) (expires today 4/24)
              Use 1 - $2 off any 2 Mars Easter Candy from the April All You Magazine (Note: per Walgreens coupon policy this had to be adjusted down to $1.98 because the 2 eggs did not total $2)
              Use 1 $3 off RR from previous transaction
              Paid .58 plus tax
Tran #6: Purchase 1 Luster 7 White Toothpaste @ $4.99
              Purchase 1 Wonka Sweetarts @ $0.39 (filler item....needed to get coupon to item ratio)
              Use $2 off 1 Luster 7 from a home mailer previously
              Use $3 RR from Tran #2
              Paid .38 plus tax and recieved a $4 RR

Total out of pocket: $8.92 plus tax
Original Value: $25.08 plus tax
And I have $7 in RR for my next visit. Or I can use that $7 at the Commissary since they also accept RR to reduce my grocery bill (think produce or meat)!