I LOVE Walgreens and the employees at the store I visit weekly can vouch for that. Walgreens works a little different from stores with Reward Cards. It has a more complicated rebate system, but once mastered you will be amazed by the amount of items you are able to receive cheaply. While there is not a rule to the right location to begin couponing with, many new couponers begin at Walgreen’s competitor store, CVS, because of its simplified program.Walgreens has two incentives for their customers:
1. Register Rewards (RRs)
2. Their Easy Saver Catalog (ESC) - A Rebate Program.
What are Register Rewards? A Register Reward (RR) is similar to CVS’s Extra Care Bucks. It is “monopoly money” for Walgreens. Weekly, Walgreens offers deals that give you back RRs. RRs print out on a machine called a Catalina machine (this machine sits beside the register when you buy your merchandise). Cashiers will hand you your RRs with your receipt at the end of your purchase. Most RRs are limited to one per purchase, so keep that in mind. Like ECBs, RRs have an expiration date, so pay close attention to them. You can use these RRs on ANY* item in the store (not on the same purchase for which you receive the RRs). Jackie, a reader, brings up a good point I have noted in the past. Give your register rewards BEFORE coupons at the end of a transaction.
What is the Easy Saver Rebate Catalog? The Easy Saver Rebate Catalog is a monthly catalog full of coupons and easy saver rebates (ESR). There is a rumor that this program will end soon but I will begin to discuss it anyways. In the back of the catalog are typically over 50 items for which you can get rebates. Some of the rebates are “free after rebates” (FAR). These FAR items can actually be MONEYMAKERS when combined with coupons. For example, if I have a rebate for a $5 tube of lipstick and I have a $2 coupon on that lipstick, I will pay $3 for the item. I will turn in my receipt, however, for $5 – the shelf price of the lipstick. This means, having spent only $3 on that lipstick, I am getting back $5 and thus making $2 – a MONEYMAKER. (Note – the store will make $2 off that lipstick because they turned in the coupon to the manufacturer to get their money back). If you want to make even more money, request that your rebate be returned on a Walgreens gift card. If you request your rebate on a Walgreens gift card, you get back an addition 10 percent. Again, I spent $3 on this lipstick but I am now getting back $5.50 on a gift card (with my additional 10 percent). I made $2.50 AND ended up with a tube of lipstick!!! I got paid to take lipstick.
What do I do with my Walgreens gift card? When you get your rebates on a gift card you make an additional 10 percent of ALL your rebate items. I use my gift card from the previous month to buy the next month’s rebate items. I am recycling my Walgreens money. I am not using cash in the store. Let’s say I received $40 worth of rebates in November; in December I would use that $44 gift card (remember your extra 10 percent) and buy December’s rebate items. In January, I will use December’s rebate money to buy my new rebate items for January…and the cycle continues.
How do I get my rebate? No one can explain the Easy Saver Rebate (ESR) program better than Walgreens. Pick up one of their Easy Saver Catalogs (ask the cashier – she/he will point it out to you) and read the content – found in the middle of the catalog.
Two helpful hints
1. Get it on a gift card for an additional 10 percent and then recycle your rebate money.
2. Enter your rebates online. I enter my receipts online as soon as I get home from the store so receipts are not lost or misplaced. Doing this online saves you postage, lost receipts, and makes the return on your rebate much quicker.
There is a rumor on the Web that Walgreens will be losing their Easy Saver Catalog in coming months and will move into the Rewards card program. I hope this is not the case because, even though it can be more challenging, I have been very pleased with the set up of their rebate/RR program.
*RRs cannot be used for alcohol, tobacco, prescriptions, and some other similar purchases.
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