My Under $3 Walgreens Deals…
So I hit up Walgreens today and scored some great buys! I had a few Register Rewards to use from the Kellogg’s/Kashi Register Reward deal, the Colgate Optic White Register Reward deal and a couple of other deals. Note that when it comes to Walgreens and rolling points/Register Rewards… well, it can get pretty darn confusing, especially with all of the “rules”. Like the fact that you can’t use Balance Rewards points to pay for point earning deals (as you won’t receive the points back) AND that you can’t use a Register Reward to pay for the same Register Reward deal again etc.
So usually I try to plan my Walgreens trips ahead of time and make a list (as you can see from the pic). This helps to ensure that I’ve calculated everything correctly (I tend to make mistakes often!) and that my trip will not take too long. When I follow a list, I usually get in and out pretty quickly. Also, by making a list, I am able to figure out how to best roll Register Rewards on point earning items and vice versa. This is the beauty of shopping at Walgreens – the art of rolling rewards! 🙂
I scored all of the items pictured above for just a wee bit under $3 with tax…
First Transaction:
Spend $6 on select Suave products = 2,000 Balance Rewards points (= a $2 reward)
Here’s my Scenario:
Bought 2 Suave Lotions 18 oz $3 each
Total = $6
Used two $1.50/1 Suave Body Lotion coupons found in the 3/9 RP
Paid $3
Got back 2,000 Balance Rewards Points (= a $2 reward)
Bought 2 Starbucks Refreshers 12 oz 2/$3
Paid $3
Got back 2,000 Balance Rewards points (= a $2 reward)
* Note that according to the weekly ad, this was supposed to just give me 1,000 Balance Rewards points… BUT I actually got 1,000 points for each one for a total of 2,000 points! Awesome!!
Bought Nice! Peanuts 16 oz
Bought Nice! Trail Mix 9 oz
Paid $4
Got back 1,000 Balance Rewards points (= a $1 reward)
Total for all items = $10
I then used 4 Register Rewards that totaled $9 (*Note that I was able to use 4 in the same transaction since I purchased 4 items that I did not use manufacturer’s coupons on. Since Register Rewards are considered a manufacturer’s coupon, you have to make sure that they don’t exceed your coupon to item ratio and if they do, you will have to purchase an additional “filler” item to use one.)
Final cost $1 (+ tax)
OR $10 (+ tax) if you have no Register Rewards to use
PLUS – I earned 5,000 Balance Rewards points (= a $5 reward)
Second Transaction:
Bought 2 bags of Wonk SweeTarts Jelly Beans 2/$4
Used the $1/2 Warheads or Sweetart’s jelly beans 14 oz Walgreens coupon in the March Coupon Booklet
Plus, used the $1/2 Wonka SweeTarts, Nerds Bumpy or Laffy Taffy Jelly Beans coupon here
Paid $2 total, just $1 per bag!
Bought 2 Nutella Hazelnut Spreads 13 oz 2/$7
Use the buy 1 get 1 FREE Nutella Product coupon found in the 2/2 SS
Paid $3.50 total, just $1.75 each!
Total for all items = $5.50
PLUS, I then used the 5,000 worth of points earned from the 1st transaction
Final cost only $0.50 (+ tax)
Total for both transactions = $1.50 (+ tax)
* Note – If you start out with no Register Rewards, you’ll pay just $10.50 (+ tax) for all of the items! Still a great buy for all that you are getting!
Now it’s your turn – have you scored any bargains this week? Let us know! 
Thanks.so,much Collin for all u do 🙂
This is Brandice in Atlanta
You are so welcome!! 🙂
Any ideas on cheap items to use as fillers? My wags used to have 15 cent laffy taffys but they don’t have those anymore 🙁
I usually take advantage of the items that are pretty cheap with their in ad coupons. For example, this week the ACT II Popcorn is 4/$1 with in ad coupon and you can just purchase one pack and use the in ad coupon to get it for $0.25. Another great filler item would be the 9 oz bags of Nice! Jelly Beans for $0.79 with in ad coupon.
Great thinking! Thanks Collin for all you do!
You’re welcome!! 🙂
I usually check the clearance section, if I cant find anything there I usually use food as fillers such as salt, milk, chicken stock, etc.
i try to stay in the .35 cents for a filler. don’t like to spend money on fillers period. but with all the couponing i do. and per walgreen’s policy. you can’t have more coupons then items.
so, for the last 2 yrs. i have bought their .33 cent caramels. they are usually either by the register or in a bin filled with other candy. they are soft caramel wrapped in a paper usually in a basket. they are called vande walles candies
so for every coupon more than items, i’ll pick up as many caramels needed.
imagine if i need 4 fillers at .79 cents, that’s an extra $3.16 less savings in my pocket.
i really dislike this policy. had trouble yesterday when i went to use a register reward, for 3.00 towards my order, along with my coupons. had to use a filler, because the $3.00 r.w is considered a coupon.
Glad to know I’m not the only one!
Neither of the wags i shop have those .15 candy. I look through the ad to see what cheap food fillers are on sale, like jello, olives, gum. Sometimes I get the holiday pencils, esp when they’re 8/$1! Or I check the clearance end caps. Once i found a box of mead envelopes for .10 (box was ripped, But the envelopes were still good)
I too hate that their system attaches RR to items, bc fillers cost me $$ and extra in tax, which at 8.75% adds up! !
cvs gave me 5.00 EB that was supposed to be 3.00. they went up because it would not print 1st time. so went to cvs and bought 2 Almay eyeliners ended up paying around 3.00 with 5.00 EB and 5.00 off 2 almay items Q. it printed 6.00 RR. bought 2 pantene( 2 for 7.00) and 2 dish soap .99 each—- with 2 coupons on that and 6.00 RR paid 90 cents. so total OOP for 6 items was under 4.00. 🙂
your deals are great as well as well explained but walgreens has too many rules and too many nasty managers so i stick with CVS
agreed! how come is that.. so weird? i LOVE my CVS employees and cant stand the Walgreens employees in my area in NJ
I’m with ya on that!! I’m in Indiana and the Walgreens employees are so rude! They act like I have the plague when I use coupons. I try to avoid shopping there unless it’s a REALLY good deal. The CVS is right across the street and they are all so nice and helpful. Walgreens corporate needs to get it together with their employees!
The Walgreens I go to never have anything in stock so its a little frustrating to make my list and then never find the item on the shelf.
I love CVS too but lately there hasn’t been any good deals there in my opinion.
In CA the cvs employees are the rudest and all of the stores are so gross and dirty! And always out of stock of most things. I try to avoid them. Wags tho is a lot cleaner, nicer employees and better stocked shelves!
ooo boy I’ m lucky with 3 Walgreens store near by my house, they are very coupon friendly. We dont have CVS here (WA state)
Sorry to hear that you both have had so many issues. 🙁 The Walgreens I go to has some of the most coupon friendly cashiers. I also have great success when I checkout in cosmetics.
And on a sad note, there are NO CVS stores in Idaho. So I am definitely jealous of all you CVS shoppers! 😉
I agree, thier are some nasty mangers out there. But try n find a wags with a nice manger..
Same, here that why I try not to go to wags.
It’s ironic their house brand is called “nice!” when the employees are anything but. On top of it all, it’s a real challenge to coupon with their register system. Kudos to Collin for making it all work like a pro!
Agree!! I also love the CVS employees in my area.
So true!!! I hate going to Walgreens. They give me a hard time each and every time!
I hate it when I try to follow a deal exactly and copy same thing and the store is sold out of 1 of the items. messes the whole thing up. our stores in ala. are bad about keeping low stock:(
I feel the same way. My wag never has anything in stock. 🙁
I tried to get the optic toothpaste deal today and the shelf was wiped out.
Another thing that always confuses me at Walgreens is that you can’t use gift cards/store credit on a transaction where you will earn points…but the cashiers don’t know this!!! So I have done many transactions over and over again at Walgreens while they have tried to figure out what was wrong. So now I know and hope this info helps someone!!
I always say you have to have a PhD in couponing to shop at Walgreens!!
Ain’t that the truth. I’ve been couponing for a while now and I still get so confused at Walgreens at times.
Preface: I used my sisters employee discount at Walgreens so that helped lol; total was 10.55
4- almay eyeliners 7.49 ea bogo50 used 5/2 q and 2/1 ivc
2 Special K cereals 2/5 used a 1/2 q and earned 1 rr
Haribo gummy bears 1.79 used .30 q
2 clearanced bags of pop chips 1.35 ea used $1/2 q printable
Canned Pumpkin clearance $1.25
1 gal milk (got .50 ibotta)
Your so right Collin when it comes to RR and what rolls and what you can or cannot pay with. I always seem to figure it wrong. Plus, I also have run into the problem of their own employees not knowing their own system when I ask for help. Don’t get me wrong, they have great deals and I occasionally shop there but CVS is so much easier for me and I don’t have to think about coupon to item ratios. Also, it is nice to know I am not the only person who writes everything down and uses sharpies! Keep showing us your great deals!
They are currently giving away perdue potholders to the first 3000 and something.
Please use my link, it would be greatly appreciated.
I forgot my link sorry for the double post.
https://sot.ag/2srZk/
Collin, I have to remind myself that I can’t “count” a register reward twice if I want a true picture of my savings. For example, if I bought the Kashi Cereal as you described it recently:
Kashi Cereal 13.8 or 14 oz (select varieties) 2/$5
Buy 4 boxes of Kashi Cereals 2/$5 = $10 total
Use two $1/2 Kashi Cereal coupons found here (use zip code 22207)
Pay $8
Get back a $3 Register Reward
Final Cost $5 total – just $1.25 each! AWESOME Price for Kashi!
In my mind I’ve bought the Kashi cereal because it was a net price of $1.25 per box (since I’ll eventually use the RR like cash) and so I saved $3 on the Kashi cereal. Then if I went to use the $3 Register rewards like you did in this post, I would not be saving an additional $3 on my additional purchases.
Hi Tricia,
Yep – I completely get what you are saying and understand. Like you, when I shop, I calculate my out of pocket expense and not the rewards I am getting. Of course, once you start rolling rewards, your out of pocket expense sure does get low! 🙂
Also, the reason I list the “pay” amount and “final cost” amount in weekly deals is that I have had readers email regarding this and it seems many of you like to see the pay amount AND the final cost when subtracting the reward. I think seeing both really helps many to figure out if it’s a good deal for them or not such a good deal.
My Walgreens today had clearance Hello Kitty bath/cosmetic sets over w/the clearance toys. I picked up the cellphone lipgloss set for $1.50 and the bath set containing body wash, lotion, loofah, and more lip gloss in a makeup bag for $2.50. Easter basket goodies for my 7 yr. old!
My walgreens is always so difficult to use coupons at, the almay coupon went terribly. I want to learn to coupon better but every time wags leaves me with a bad taste! Ugh.
It’s very confusing so I plan things out as best as I can. I remember saving register rewards for items without coupons and then discovered you can’t get milk. I need help with the register rewards. Other than that, I love my Walgreens.
I have a question. When you are rolling transactions do you do them one right after another? I get nervous when there are a lot of people in line behind me. I try to go up when no one is at the register, but the moment I do, a long line forms.
Try to go to the cosmetics counter to check out; works much better for me.
I have so many wags and cvs around me so everyone know me. Sometime that good and bad . At first I didn’t like wags points now I rack up on point.
So you could use RR to pay for items and still recieve points?
Yes, that’s correct. 🙂
Is there a difference between register rewards and balance rewards at Walgreens? or are they the same thing? Im confused..I have 10, 000 balance reward points saved up and last week the cashier told me they dont expire but I cant use them on items to get additional points…..
Yes there is a difference. RR print from the Catalina machine, it’s a coupon to use on your next purchase. BR are points earned when buying items noted out the ad. Easiest thing to remember is that You can use RR toward BR deals and earn points and use points towards RR deals and get RR. You cannot use points in transaction when BR are earned.
There are a few other “rules” you need a PhD, like someone said, to really understand walgreens!!!
Ok…So you can use The BR Points on something and still earn a register reward? That was what I thought but when I went to do it the cashier told me not to use my points because the RR wouldn’t print out. So I didn’t. I don’t shop at Walgreens much because it is so much harder than CVS…
Use your points on something that you need that does not generate points or RRs such as household items.
Personally, I don’t shop often at Walgreens, as I too don’t like that the catalina’s / register rewards are manufacturer coupons, not like CVS ECB. So this week, I did several orders at one Walgreens, just rolling the money over.
#1 Order:
4 boxes of Kashi – 2/$5 = $10
2 containers of Sun Maid Raisins, 13oz – 2/$5 = $5
Colgate Optic White Toothpaste, 4 oz – 3.00
Total = $18
Used Manuf Qs
Kashi – .70/1
Kashi – .70/1
Kashi – $1/2
2 Facebook SunMaid – $2.00= $4.00
Colgate – $1.50
Total – $10.10 + .10 for tax
GOT BACK $2 from Toothpaste and $3 from Kashi
#2 Order:
2 6 bars of Irish Spring Soap – 2/$7
Used $3 & $2 from above
Total = $2.00 + .13
GOT BACK $4
#3 Order:
2 boxes of Capri Sun for my Florida Nephew = 2/$4
Used $4
Total = $0
RECEIVED $1 in bonus points on the account
#4 Order:
Colgate Optic White TP = $3
Used $1.50 Q
Minus $1.00 from bonus points
Total $.50 + .10 tax
GOT BACK $2 from Toothpaste
Total for entire 4 orders = $12.93 + GOT BACK $2 for #4 Order TP.
Gotta love this week’s deals!
Hope you can do some of these deals!
Walgreens is so confusing with coupons. And you don’t always get the register rewards you are supposed to. Cvs you always get it or they nicely fix it right away. Walgreens does have some good deals though.
Jacki,
I know what you mean. I’ve had to correct them a few times on not getting my points and I do still get caught on the not having enough product for my coupons deal even though I’ve been couponing for awhile now. Much easier at CVS.
I agree , CVS is so much simpler! Walgreens lost me when they started with all the hard to follow rules. Thankful I have a CVS close and the employees are so helpful!
I had a good week. Got $60 worth of products at Walgreens for $20.00! Over $500 worth of clothes from justice & old navy for $150! Going to target tomorrow ….wish me luck 🙂
Wow!! Sounds like you rocked the deals this week! 😀
Aw man! Now I’m craving some of those jelly beans! I love any candy flavored jelly beans- jolly rancher, starburst, all of them! Super excited for this deal!!!
By rolling my points and RR, i was able to get 2 Eucerin lotions, 2 Aquaphor lip treatments, 2 Suave lotions, 2 Wet and Wild lipsticks, 2 Rimmel nail polishes, Clear care contact solution, 3 Bumble Bee chicken salads, 4 mars candy bars and a 16 pack Energizer battery for all around $12.00. I usually stick with CVS primarily but this was a good week for Walgreen’s deals.
My walgreens trip: 4 Almay eye shadows, 2 Suave body lotions, 2 Starbucks refreshers, 4 bags of Act II popcorn, 1 Venus razor, and 1 Colgate optic white toothpaste.I paid $3.08 OOP, plus received $2 in register rewards and 9000 balance rewards points!! 🙂 (Note that I had $11 in register rewards left over from last week that I used on this transaction.) I was supposed to get another $2 RR on this transaction ($2 for optic white and $2 for Venus), but didn’t realize until after I had gotten home. 🙁
Check out your local walgreens for great clearance deals on Olay body soap 6 pack marked down to 1.74 used a 1.10 coupon I found on coupons.com…dove body wash 2.10 and used .75 off coupon from coupon.com. Also scored on pantene conditioner 1.19…bought 5 and used 5.00 off three and 2 off 2 from P&G… 6 pk Irish Spring soap 1.35 ..bought 2 of those plus Irish Spring Body Wash 1.24 and got 4.00 RR back..loved walgreens today
My Walgreens is a brand new store and they have almost no product included in the good deals. I have not given up after 7 trips and did well with the colgate yesterday. Thanks to you all for posting-it is a difficult store to shop compared to CVS and I need all the help I can get.
So can anyone answer me about the “do you get reward points when you redeem in that transaction?” i was told no
No u do not
Nope. You can’t use points in a transaction when BR are earned.
What I do is roll the BR points on register reward deals and vice versa.
For this weeks revlon deal at walgreens i was able to get the colorstay single eye shadows priced at $2.99 with BOGO it was a total of $7.5 for 3 eye shadows and i got back 3000 points in top of bonus 5000 points
I got 4 Almay today and was told I couldn’t use the $2 store and both of the $5/2 qs. And then I was told that they couldn’t take 2 of the Almay off I just had to pay for it and get over it. I got the stuff but was not happy at all but of course there was only one person working and a line of people behind me so I didn’t make a big fit about it
I had a lot of problems with the almay deal, as well. The coupons beeped, and they had to call a manager. Now I remember why I try to avoid walgreens.
Try and go to the cosmetics counter if you can, its usually quiet over there, although I had the same issue with the Almay deal, I did the $5/2 MFQ first and then the $2 Wags coupon which kicked out my $5 MFQ. I then explained she could just adjust the price of the MFQ down to the cost of the items. She said they stopped doing that in January I either got one or the other…and I explained that I had within the past month had cashiers adjust my coupons down.
After going back and forth she finally called a “manager”(no one was waiting either btw lol which was great, less pressure) and the manager explained she COULD adjust the coupon down, PLUS there’s no more “rolling” at this store either, they put up their little square blue sign saying 1 RR per customer per offer per day lol…Walgreens is definitely going downhill, at least this one is. I’m thinking it may be time to cash out my $50 in points and just focus on Rite Aid, which IMO are much more friendly about coupons and service.
what is SS?the BOGO of nutella
SS is Smart Source.
Thanks for the tip on the Starbucks refreshers. And, I didn’t realize the Colgate Optic was working with the $2 rr, so I picked up both of them this morning. Yea. I may stop by another Wags on my way home and do the same deal again.
The cashiers at the Walgreens I usually go to roll their eyes when I walk in. One cashier said they get docked if a transaction is voided and 9 out of 10 times they have to void mine due to a coupon issue– which is not usually my fault. I am not going to buy anything if I know I’ve followed the rules and the mgmt. won’t follow them. I try to be courteous and do one transaction at a time and fall back in line and go to the cosmetics counter when I can. But it is becoming more and more a hassle and I’m wondering of it is worth my time. Thanks– just had to vent…
I work at Walgreen’s and the assistant manager herself sometimes hates it when I use coupons when I read about deals on this website. The problem with it all stems from corporate. Price checks, voids, price modifies, etc, all puts employee’s name on loss prevention’s high risk list, which always results in a lecture, that is why a lot of employees at Walgreen’s seem unfriendly. Personally, I always accept coupons and honor them as long as they are for the product stated, helps drive sales anyways.
Here is a last minute discovery that would make for an awesome deal for those of you who have access to a Kwik Trip gas station!! I visited 2 different ones this week and found coupon packs on the glass door where they keep the Starbucks refreshers and coffee, they are for $1/1 any starbucks refresher!!! That would make for a lot of free, $1 MM, delicious drinks 🙂 Hope some of you can take advantage of this deal!!