Welcome, my fellow Walgreens fans! It’s Sunday, time for our weekly Walgreens $5 Challenge. The place to come for simple scenarios with step-by-step instructions.
Walgreens is a bit different than CVS, so it may be a bigger challenge to obtain a low OOP (out of pocket). If you are new to Walgreens, and wanting to learn the basics, check out this post.
This is another stellar week for bargains on school supplies!
If you are a first time visitor, here’s the lowdown:
Join me each week as I host The Walgreens $5 Challenge!
Seasoned WAGS shoppers: share your best scenario(s) for the upcoming week at Walgreens.
Your budget: $5.00 out-of-pocket cash.
Your mission: to grow that $5.00 into more Register Rewards (RR) to use in upcoming weeks.
*RULES* Bloggers: Please make sure at least one scenario is $5 OOP or less
1. Come up with your best scenario/scenarios for the upcoming week at Walgreens using the current weekly ad, monthly deals, and coupons available. Your budget for Out of Pocket (OOP) expenses on the first transaction is only $5.00 (either cash OOP or RRs on hand).
2. Using up to (3) scenarios (we don’t want to overwhelm the newbies with too many transactions), offer up your best scenarios to “grow” that $5.00 into more RRs to use in following weeks.
3. If you want to divide your $5.00 allowance over the 3 scenarios to make them work, that’s fine!
Here is MY $5 Scenario for the week of August 9th:
*coupons in red
Transaction #1
Buy 1 Colgate Total Enamel Strength Toothpaste @ $2.99
$1.00/1 Colgate Total (7/26 SS insert)
Total After Coupon= $1.99
RRs Earned= $2.99
Transaction #2
Buy (3) Reach Floss, Reach Toothbrush or Listerine @ 3/$9.00
$5.00/3 Reach Floss and/or Listerine Mouthwash and/or Reach Toothbrush (SS insert 8/2/09)
Pay with $2.99 RR from above
Total After Coupon & RR= $1.01
RRs Earned= $6.00
Transaction #3
Buy 1 Jergens Naturals Lotion (16.8-oz.) @ $5.99
Buy 1 school supply item @ $0.19 w/in-ad coupon
Pay with $6.00 RR from above
Total After Coupon & RRs= $0.18
RRs Earned= $5.00
Grand Total OOP= only $3.18!
Total Value= $18.17 with $5.00 Register Rewards remaining!
Keep rolling those RR’s for more savings!
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There you have it! A way to play the WAGS game by helping newbies learn the ropes. And who knows – you just might be inspired yourself by some of the deals you find, too!
Simply post your scenarios on your blog, then drop by Keeping the Kingdom First and add your permalink to Mr. Linky below. (If you are reading via email or in a reader please click through to see the Mr. Linky)
Please link directly to your scenarios. Links directly to your homepage will be deleted. Linking back to this meme to share it with others is greatly appreciated!
Don’t have a blog? You can leave a comment with your scenario, too. I invite everyone to participate.
Just found your blog and I LOVE the $5 challenge. I’m just starting in this whole coupon thing and I feel so overwhelmed. Thanks for simplifying it and helping me learn this talent. You are doing great work for the Lord.
I love the challenge but have a question: Do you do all transactions in one shopping trip or do you go back the next day? Not sure how to approach these separate transactions.
Thanks!!
Patricia – I’m new to this and just starting to get the hang of it, and that was my biggest learning point, too! I do the separate transactions in one visit – I just tell them I’m dividing it up and so far no one has questioned that.
.-= Kristi_runwatch´s last blog ..Walgreens, how I love thee =-.
Thanks for answering that question, Kristi!
Patricia, that is my most frequently asked question. Kristi’s advice is perfect, but be warned that sometimes it depends on your cashier. I try to shop in the mornings when the store is not too busy, to avoid lines. Usually the cashiers are very accommodating! Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the challenge!
looking at your scenario, your using a $5/3 coupon on the oral products AND a register reward, that’s 3 items but coupons for 4 items (the $5/3 coupon is for 3 products- so you would need a 4th item to use both the coupon and RR. Did they change that rule when I wasn’t paying attention?????
Molly, I tried it myself today. I purchased 3 Reach toothbrushes for $9. I used the $5/3 and the $2.99 RR with no issues. So it is the actual # of coupons, and not the # of items it applies to. Great question though!!
Heather, thanks so much for checking and replying to the question! I was actually not sure myself about the answer. Walgreens tends to be confusing!
Regina, that is not entirely true. If you use the RR from Transaction #1 to pay for the purchase of the exact same item, then the RR will not print, that is correct. But you can always use RR to pay for purchases and RR will still print, as long as you are not paying with the same RR as what you are buying. Hope that is not too confusing. This scenario definitely works.
.-= Heather´s last blog ..$2 off Coke 12 pack – Printable =-.
I tried the above challenge and quit after transaction 1, as I was told if you use RR to pay for a transaction it will cause any RR from that order to not print…
i was not paying for the same item. i used the EXACT scenario above. transaction 1 colgate. transaction 2 toothbrushes. was told it would not work.
Regina,
I am told the same thing on a regular basis. I just tell the cashier that I’m willing to risk it. The reward always prints in the end. Some cashiers just don’t understand how the register reward system works.
Alyssa’s scenario will definitely work though.
.-= Stephanie´s last blog ..Free Samples: Burt’s Bees, Kashi, John Frieda, and More! =-.
Yes, sadly, this is one of those cases where the customer knows more than the employee. I assure you this will work. The cashier may even be shocked!
Heather was correct, if you are paying for the same item, they would not print.
Let me know if you have any other questions! 🙂
I just returned from my Walgreens and had the very same thing happen – received a RR for the Colgate purchase, pd for part of the next transaction (Reach deal) with the RR and MQ (had a filler so as not to exceed # of items for coupons I had) and the RR reward for the Reach deal did not print. I mentioned to the cashier that I should have a RR coming, but she said that since I paid with one, another would not print out. She called the manager over, who confirmed this. I noticed after I left that I was also overcharged for the Reach toothbrush I purchased (should have been in the 3/$9 deal – even had a tag on the rack), so am now wondering if that’s why I didn’t get the RR -not because I paid with a RR. I may go back – trying to decide if it’s worth my time or if I should just be done with WAGS for good!
Janet, I’m betting some one put the wrong toothbrushes on the peg. If the toothbrush cost more than $3, then it wasn’t included in the deal.
My Wags is awesome, but it took a little “training” to get the cashiers to understand the RR system. They also used to say I new RR wouldn’t print if I used one. And then were shocked when one printed. Now they look at me and say “I need to learn how to shop like you” when they see the deals I get. 🙂
ok once again it did NOT work. no rr printed after 2nd transaction. when that happened i just had them refund the money. cashier even called store manager over who told me the same thing.
If that was a first time occurance, I might feel differently, but I have been overcharged before. I ususally catch it when they ring the item up, but I was in a hurry to get back to the sitter and did not catch it. The toothbrushes were the same as pictured in the ad. Maybe a different WAGS.
I had the same issue today at my Walgreen’s that Regina had. No RR’s printed after using RR’s to pay for next transaction. The manager told me if you pay with RR’s you can’t expect RR’s to print or you would be making money off of Walgreen’s. I tried to tell him that other Walgreen’s do print, but he told me I was wrong. I should have put everything back, but I bought
(continued from last comment)Listerine, Reach toothbrush, Reach floss, Colgate, and four 2-liters of Pepsi and only paid $2.95, so I was happy, but I really was expecting the RR’s from the Listerine and Colgate.
I was told that the RR machine might have been off line today. This will cause the RR’s not to print.
Thanks Jamie! Although, that would not explain the cashier and asst manager telling me that the RR’s won’t print if I use RR’s to pay.
Patricia-
You are right, that does not explain the management’s response. Sigh. Walgreens can be challenging. I suspect the cashiers and the management are not properly trained.
RRs DO indeed print when paying with RRs, at least in my personal experience. I do wonder though, can some Walgreens override the computer’s settings to change this procedure?
I am curious enough that I will be calling corporate this week to find out. I am so sorry for the frustrations.
Please know that I always post scenarios that I know will work, and it is not my desire to mislead my readers in any way. 🙂
Alyssa, it was never my intention to blame you for what happened. I am just trying to let people know that Regina’s experience is the same as mine, and obviously, some Walgreen’s must adjust the system. I can’t wait to hear your response from the corporate office.
Yes, please do post an update when you hear from corporate. I remember reading somewhere else that managers have the ability to set their own coupon policy and adjust the computers to work accordingly.