How to Save Money by Shopping at Walgreens

I never even bothered to shop at Walgreens, because many of their regular prices are so expensive that I can get the same products elsewhere for much cheaper. However, now that I've figured out how to save a lot of money by shopping at Walgreens, it's my favorite store!

My husband is very amused each week when I return home after working my "Walgreens Magic." Yesterday I got $43 worth of products for just $2.88, and even that was paid for with my Walgreens gift card bonus from last month's rebate claims! In other words, I got the following items from Walgreens for free: 2 boxes of raisins, 3 cans of Hunt's tomato sauce, a can of Skintimate shaving cream, a mineral makeup brush, 3 bottles of Olay body wash, a bottle of shampoo/conditioner, 60 Tuf trash bags, and 2 boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats.

How do I save so much money by shopping at Walgreens?

1. I clip coupons. I save a LOT of money each month by coupon clipping. I buy the Sunday paper each week and save the Red Plum and Smart Source inserts.

2. I wait for the sales. I don't use my coupons right away. That yields very little (if any) savings. In order to save money, you must be patient and wait for the items for which you have coupons to go on sale. You can monitor the sales at various blogs such as Money Saving Mom, Hot Coupon World, and BeCentsAble. You can pick up a Walgreens ad each week in the store or view it online.

3. I use Walgreens Easy Saver books. Every month Walgreens publishes a booklet with coupons and rebate offers. These can be found in each Walgreens store near the ad circulars. At the end of each month there is an overlap period, usually for a couple of days, when the current month coupons and next month's coupons can be "stacked" (used together), creating double savings.

4. I stack coupons. Walgreens accepts their own coupons PLUS manufacturer coupons. For example, if you have a $1 coupon for Kellogg's cereal and Walgreens has a $1 coupon in their weekly ad circular or Easy Saver booklet, then you can present both coupons at checkout and receive $2 off the items. This sometimes results in free items. Even better yet, there have been many times when I even received overage for having coupons that were worth more than the sale price of the item! You can stack manufacturer's coupons, Walgreens ad coupons, Easy Saver coupons, and rebate for maximum savings.

5. I utilize manufacturers' rebates. In the Walgreens Easy Saver booklet you will be able to learn each month what items are rebatable. Some items are even "FAR" (free after rebate). If you happen to have coupons for those items... you get paid for taking them out of the store! Yesterday I purchased Pert Plus, which was FAR; and I also had a $2 coupon. So I made $2 on that transaction!

6. I get a Walgreens gift card instead of a rebate check. You also should realize that if you choose to receive a reloadable Walgreens gift card in lieu of a rebate check each month, Walgreens adds a 10% bonus to your total. Rebates are easy to claim online, and you Walgreens gift card is reloaded promptly after you claim at the month's end. Since the Pert that I purchase rang up at $3.49 and it is FAR, I will receive my $3.49 back plus a .35 bonus, even though I only paid $1.49 for the item after my manufacturer's coupon. In other words, I will "make" $2.35 plus a free bottle of shampoo!

7. I utilize Register Rewards. Walgreens offers Register Rewards that are printed after the purchase of certain products. These Register Rewards can be applied like cash to your next purchase at Walgreens. Currently Oil of Olay body wash is on sale at Walgreen 3 bottles for $10. If you purchase 3 bottles, you will receive $3 in Register Rewards. I purchased the 3 bottles using $2, $2, and $1.50 manufacturer's coupons from the newspaper. This knocked my total down to $4.50 for 3 bottles. I then received $3 in Register Rewards to use on my next transaction, so I technically only paid $1.50 for the 3 bottles (actually, even less since I had overage from other products).

8. I am signed up for Walgreens e-mail alerts. They will occasionally give you the opportunity to print a coupon for $5 off any $20 purchase. I used such a coupon yesterday with the example above and scored some great deals!

I really enjoy seeing how much money I can save by shopping at Walgreens each week! I hope that you will look into this opportunity, if you have a Walgreens near you.