How to shop at Walgreens

Shopping at Walgreens takes patience, confusion, and an initial investment. The initial investment is kinda big, and you'll probably get stuff you don't need. But after that, you'll never have to pay for another thing at Walgreens again!

Steps to saving at Walgreens:

1. Go to your local Walgreens and pick up an EasySaver catalog at the front of the store. This has coupons you can use all month, as well as rebates. Each month, there are usually some items that you can get for free after the rebate.
2. Buy these free things that you can get for free this month, even if you don't need them. I know, I know. It feels like you're spending money on crap. You are. Just be patient.
3. When you're finished, go online to Walgreens.com and register an account. Then, enter your rebated items and always request that your rebate be sent to you on your gift card -- Walgreens will give you an extra 10% by doing this (this should cover the sales tax, plus some). Every time after this, make sure you recharge your gift card.
4. So you just spent some money, and Walgreens is going to rebate you your money + 10%. Be patient. Don't buy anything else at Walgreens (unless you were going to anyway). For new accounts, you will have to wait 4-6 weeks for your gift card. After that, it will be 2-3 weeks to recharge your card.

What I did this month (November 2008):

1. The two free items this month are L'Oreal Perfect Radiance Perfector, 1.7 oz. for $19.99 and Almay One Coat Mascare for $6.99. Obviously, I don't need either. But I bought them anyway, and gave the Mascara to my wife and the Age Perfect to Mom. If you don't like that, you can always sell them on eBay and make even more!
2. I had a $5 off coupon for spending $20 at Walgreens. It is now expired. Don't worry if you don't have one. But if you see one, grab it!
3. I had a $1 off L'Oreal manufacturers coupon.
4. So I spent $22.54 at the register ($19.99 + $6.99 -$1 + tax - $5)
5. Walgreens is going to send me a gift card for $29.68 ($19.99 + $6.99 + 10%)
6. This month I made $7.14! Walgreens paid me to take these items off their shelf!!

Coupon Stacking
The EasySaver Catalog and the weekly store fliers always include a number of store coupons which are good all month or all week, depending on which flier they came from.

Since these are store coupons, they can be stacked with manufacturer coupons. Often, you'll be able to get a really great deal, or a FREE deal, by stacking the store coupons with the manufacturer coupons.

Register Rewards
Similar to CVS ExtraCare Bucks, Walgreens offers Register Rewards. When you buy a certain item, you will get a printed coupon called "Register Rewards" which you can use like cash off your next purchase. By using your register rewards, your store coupons, and your manufacturer coupons, you can often get the item for free or almost free. Then use your gift card to pay the balance.

Note: Register Rewards have expiration dates.

Very Important

1. Walgreens requires as many items as you have coupons. So if you have a store coupon, a manufacturer coupon, and a register reward, you'll need to have at least three items in your cart.
2. Unless the cashier knows what he or she is doing, the order you give the coupons is important. Just play it safe, and hand the cashier the register rewards first, the manufacturer coupons second, and the store coupons last.
3. If for some reason, you get a cashier that can't get a coupon to go through, just ask him or her to void the item off your order. It's better to just void it off and not pay for it than to try and mess with it later.