If you are just tuning in, 3 weeks ago I started a 4 part series on how to shop Walgreens. If you missed them, be sure to check out Part 1 of 4 and Part 2 of 4 and Part 3 of 4 before moving on. This will be the last week in this series…hope you learned something new and enjoyed it!

It’s no secret that Walgreens is by far the trickiest drugstore to shop at. There are so many rules to shopping there that sometimes your head can spin! Especially if you aren’t familiar or comfortable with the in’s and outs of shopping that store. Because of this, I think many people avoid shopping Walgreens because they just don’t get it. That’s such a shame, because there are some great deal to be had and it can be super easy to shop there if you know how to play by their rules.

This week we are going to talk about what order to hand your coupons over in and a few other tips & tricks to shopping this store!

Coupon Order:
With so many things to remember while shopping at Walgreens, this is an important one!

• You want to hand over your coupons in the following order: Manufacturer, RR, Walgreens.
• Think of the alphabet if that’s easier to remember = M comes before R, comes before W.

If using just a Manufacturer coupon & a Walgreens coupon on the same item, be sure to hand over the Manufacturer coupon first.

Here’s why:
A Manufacturer coupon will “beep” at the register if it is over the cost of the item, but a Walgreens coupon will go through.

{Here’s an example}:
Buy 1 Deodorant $1.99
Use (1) $1/1 Walgreens Deodorant coupon
= $0.99
Use (1) $1/1 Manufacturer Deodorant coupon — this will beep and the cashier will have to manually adjust the coupon value down to $0.99 in order for the coupon to go through.

If you want to bypass the dreaded beep at the register, do this instead:
Buy 1 Deodorant $1.99
Use (1) $1/1 Manufacturer Deodorant coupon
= $0.99
Use (1) $1/1 Walgreens Deodorant coupon – this will not beep, however, you will need an extra item in your cart to absorb the extra $0.01.

- Would you rather get $0.01 in overage, or have a flustered cashier that isn’t sure how to adjust a coupon down? If you want the least stressful checkout for both you and the cashier, you will avoid register beeps at all costs!

This order works especially well in a scenario like this:

Correct order:
Buy 2 Dentyne Gum $1
Use (1) BOGO Free Manufacturer coupon ($-1)
Use 2/$1 Walgreens in ad coupon ($-1)
= both for FREE!

Incorrect order:
Buy 2 Dentyne Gum $1
Use 2/$1 Walgreens in ad coupon ($-1)
Use (1) BOGO Free Manufacturer coupon ($-0.50)
= Pay $0.50

– Would you rather get both for free or end up paying $0.50? If you want both for free, just hand over your coupons in the right order

If using a Manufacturer coupon and a RR in the same transaction, be sure to hand over the Manufacturer coupon first.

Here’s why:
If you hand over the RR first, it may attach to one of the other items you have in your order instead of the item you intended it to. This will cause a dreaded “beep”  at the register.

– Here, the Manufacturer coupon will automatically attach to the Deodorant & the RR will automatically attach to the filler. Easy, peasy!

Incorrect order:

Buy 1 Deodorant $1.99

Buy 1 “filler” $0.25 (in order to use a RR)

Use (1) $1 RR

Use (1) $1/1 Deodorant Manufacturer coupon

= Pay $0.24

– In this scenario, I’ve seen it happen where for some reason, the RR will attach to the first open item, in this case the deodorant. Then, when you hand over your $1/1 Deodorant Manufacturer coupon next, the coupon will beep, because there will no longer be a matching deodorant item for it to attach to.

Tip #1:

• If you are doing a “spend $20 on certain items, get $10 RR or Balance Reward Deal”, you want to make sure you hit the $20 total BEFORE manufacturer coupons but AFTER Walgreens coupons.

Tip #2:

• In order to maximize your savings, you’ll typically want to do more than 1 transaction. This way you can “roll” your RR or Balance Reward points to make sure you are paying that least amount possible out of pocket.

Tip #3:

• If you are requesting separate transactions, think about checking out at the beauty counter. It is usually much slower there than the front registers and the beauty advisors are usually more than happy to help, even if you don’t have any beauty items to ring up.

Tip #4

• If you do have to check out at the front registers (or even the beauty registers) and there is a line forming behind you, be courteous if you have more than 1 transaction. If the store is busy, I will usually ring out with my first transaction and then jump back at the end of the line for my next.