5 Tips for Savvy Walgreens Shopping
Here are five tips for shopping at Walgreens:
1. Don’t assume the price, (even the sale price), is the bottom line cost. Walgreens offers coupons in their Sunday paper that must be clipped and applied to get the lowest price.
2. Read the small print on quantities allowed on Walgreen’s store coupons. Example, this week, imperial sugar was on sale for $1.99. Limit two. Other items, such as Starkist Tuna, the limit was 4. This limit can vary depending on the item. Every week, you should clip coupons and check limit on coupons.
3. Walgreens offer rewards bucks. Every week they feature products that produce reward bucks at the register you can spend like money toward future purchases. However in most Walgreens redeeming these have a few tricks. Remember to ask the store what their policy is. In my Walgreens, you have to use an equal number of reward coupons to purchase an equal number of products- i.e. Use four reward bucks, buy four products. (This is quite different than CVS, who has no requirements on quantity). You can pick up any item, such as a .30 caramel to count as filler toward using those purchases to use up your rewards bucks on a large item.
4. Usually Walgreens has special sales that are in addition to regular sales for the first two or three days or mid-week. Watch these dates by looking at the sale flyer. You’ll earn extra rewards or extra bonuses this way.
5. There is no reward card used to track purchases at Walgreens. This means you can go and pick up multiple purchases of these specials if you’d like. For example, I picked up two of the Vaseline body lotion on a recent sale- at a buy one, get equal to purchase reward bucks- in multiple purchases. I accumulated $14 in reward bucks by purchasing these. Most Walgreens won’t let you buy just one item that’s giving reward bucks, so you’ll need to ask the store. At my local store, you must have at least three items to buy reward products.
You should watch your sales at Walgreens. Without considering sales and coupons, Walgreens is more expensive. But if you figure those free products offered weekly and the coupons to clip and use- Walgreens has some great perks and will save you money. Remember, they allow you to use one manufacturer’s coupon plus one store coupon for all purchases, even those that are offered for free with reward bucks. This means you’ll really do well there by following these tips.