I have a confession to make. I don't shop every store in my area. I used to shop every store and I found it was a lot of freaking time and energy. A lot. I got burned out, big time. Since then I scaled back a bit and picked a few stores to shop at. I hadn't so much as stepped foot into Walgreen's until last Friday in years. I headed back to my favorite Walgreen's a little nervous. I live near another one, but I used to shop at a specific one in Moore Oklahoma all the time. I loved it, the cashier knew me by name. And I was horrified to see it damaged after the tornado, and am so happy it has been repaired and reopened. I decided to go there to show my support of the Moore recovery. I was a bit nervous though, it's been so long and they have new programs! I have been couponing for 4 years and was a little worried to make mistakes. Silly, I know.
I walk in and who is there to greet me? My favorite cashier, who asked where I have been! It was just like riding a bicycle, I got back on and went wonderfully.
Walgreen's is a unique animal. Much like CVS they issue their own currency via Register Rewards. Like other programs you have to pay up front for your items, and you get a coupon worth so much off your next purchase. You can get great deals, and even make money in items at Walgreen's, if you know how to work it.
Walgreen's has a rewards program called Balance Rewards. I am honestly still learning this animal so I will add more tips and tricks as I learn them. From what I understand, thank you favorite cashier, Balance Rewards is a savings card that you must use to get certain sale prices. This card will also allow you to earn points on certain items you buy. Every 1,000 points you earn, that is 1$ savings you can use on another purchase. There is one caveat to these points. If you use your points to save on item, you will not earn points for that purchase. So make sure you are buying something that you won't earn points on. You can track your rewards on your receipt so you know how many you have. Balance Rewards is a free program so sign up!
In addition to Balance Rewards, Walgreen's has Register Rewards (RR) that I mentioned earlier. Register Rewards have their own quirky rules. First is they print after you pay, so they are on your next purchase. You can not use a RR to earn another RR on the same items. This rule is a little complicated so let me give you an example. If you want to buy two tubes of Crest toothpaste. You buy one, use your coupon and earn a RR, if you use that RR to pay for the next tube of toothpaste a new reward will not print. This means you must stagger transactions. If you are buying two tubes of toothpaste and two bottles of shampoo, you need to do toothpaste, then shampoo, then toothpaste, then shampoo in order to get your max rewards. This can be time consuming and confusing. I strongly suggest writing out a plan ahead of time, and be respectful of other customers in line. If you are doing 17 transactions, making the customers wait behind you could end up with you getting nasty looks or your tires slashed. RR also expire so make sure you use them! They can not be replaced if you lose them and I don't believe they are connected to your card, though that might have changed.
The third tricky rule I want to cover at Walgreen's is their number of coupons per item policy. Walgreen's allows one manufacturer and one Walgreen's coupon per item. That is it. If you want to use one Walgreen's coupon, one manufacturer coupon and a RR from a previous purchase you can't. In order to circumvent this policy you have to buy something else. This policy has added ten pounds to me, because the easiest thing to do is add the cheapest item in the store. Which at my Walgreen's is always some small candy item. My kids love this policy because I always have little suckers or candy in my purse but my hips hated it. If the register won't allow you to use all your coupons, check and make sure its not because you need to add another item!
Walgreen's does issue their own coupons. You can find these is two places, either their weekly add which has coupons right in it sometimes. Walgreen's also has books every month chock full of coupons. From my experience these book coupons are never advertised in their ad, but sometimes you will see them on the store signs. Pick up a booklet in the front of the store on the rack with the ads.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Week 5, Lesson 1: Couponing at Walmart
I saved Walmart for later on in the lessons for a few reasons. The first is in my state Walmart doesn't issue weekly ads. Oklahoma has laws protecting small businesses that prevent big box stores from certain pricing policies. This is both good and bad, good for small businesses but really bad for deals in the state. For people near me, Walmart has to be walked aisle by aisle in a lot of cases. The second reason I saved Walmart for later is that their cashiers are often not well trained in their coupon policy, and it is a confusing policy. I wanted everyone to build a good coupon confidence and understanding before having to fight with a cashier about their own store policy.
The first thing anyone needs to know about Walmart is print the Walmart coupon policy. This policy needs to be with your coupons. Take it with you every single time you go. The one time you forget it, you will need it. It's Murphy's Law!! If you are having problems printing the coupon policy, and I have had many times, print it in landscape mode. I have also found it's not a bad idea to bookmark the policy in your phone if you have a smart phone. I have had cashiers tell me their policy has changed, and I have had to bring up their policy online at the register. Having the policy is your best friend.
Walmart, overall is actually really coupon friendly. I find that Walmart corporate and managers usually are very accommodating. I would say 99% of the attitude you will encounter will come from the cashier and the person behind you. Walmart takes nearly every coupon , including printables.
Walmart has some unique features that make them a great store to coupon at. The best part of shopping at Walmart is you can actually have them pay you. The register can go negative and the cashier will give YOU money to leave the store. This is not an everyday occurrence, but there is nothing better than having the cashier hand you money and leaving with products and extra cash. I have done this more than a dozen times and the high is better than any drug (not that I have ever tried any if my mom is reading this). You can do this by using a coupon valued higher than the item. For example if a pack of batteries is $0.90 and you have a $1 off coupon, you should make a few cents on each item even after tax. You can either buy just the batteries and pocket the cash or you can use the overage on other items. Personally if the store is not too crowded and the line is not too long, I always do a separate transaction so they pay me. It is silly, but it makes my day to have Walmart pay me. Some people may find it a bit immature to do, but sometimes couponing is a lot of work and you get burned out. Having the store pay you now and again is just the recharge I, and others, may need to realize it is saving money and worth all the work.
The first thing anyone needs to know about Walmart is print the Walmart coupon policy. This policy needs to be with your coupons. Take it with you every single time you go. The one time you forget it, you will need it. It's Murphy's Law!! If you are having problems printing the coupon policy, and I have had many times, print it in landscape mode. I have also found it's not a bad idea to bookmark the policy in your phone if you have a smart phone. I have had cashiers tell me their policy has changed, and I have had to bring up their policy online at the register. Having the policy is your best friend.
Walmart, overall is actually really coupon friendly. I find that Walmart corporate and managers usually are very accommodating. I would say 99% of the attitude you will encounter will come from the cashier and the person behind you. Walmart takes nearly every coupon , including printables.
Walmart has some unique features that make them a great store to coupon at. The best part of shopping at Walmart is you can actually have them pay you. The register can go negative and the cashier will give YOU money to leave the store. This is not an everyday occurrence, but there is nothing better than having the cashier hand you money and leaving with products and extra cash. I have done this more than a dozen times and the high is better than any drug (not that I have ever tried any if my mom is reading this). You can do this by using a coupon valued higher than the item. For example if a pack of batteries is $0.90 and you have a $1 off coupon, you should make a few cents on each item even after tax. You can either buy just the batteries and pocket the cash or you can use the overage on other items. Personally if the store is not too crowded and the line is not too long, I always do a separate transaction so they pay me. It is silly, but it makes my day to have Walmart pay me. Some people may find it a bit immature to do, but sometimes couponing is a lot of work and you get burned out. Having the store pay you now and again is just the recharge I, and others, may need to realize it is saving money and worth all the work.
A picture from this past Fall. I was Christmas shopping with a friend and the cashier paid my friend $9.15 for well over $100 worth of stuff.
Walmart not only will pay you, but they will match prices. Price matching is a great tool to minimize the amount of stores you shop at. If you have several grocery stores in the area who use a few items at very low prices to get customers in the door, but the overall prices of everything else is high, price matching could be your new best friend. Walmart will price match any competitor ad that clearly labels the price. You don't even need to bring the ad with you, Walmarts are supposed to have the ad's at the register for all the local stores. When you get to the register, just inform the cashier that XYZ store has it for this price and they should honor it. Price matching is also great for items that are sold out of the store that has them on sale. I find that sometimes ToysRus has amazing deals on toys, but they run out of them in hours. I often skip ToysRus totally and buy it at Walmart or Target who will price match. I rarely have trouble finding items in stock at these stores. There are a lot of restrictions on what Walmart will price match, but you can check out their policy here. Walmart will not honor gift card deals that other stores have, and they will not give you Extra Bucks or things like that.
Walmart registers have changed over the last few months and they now have different scanners which I would love to explain... if I could understand it!! It seems like the registers are prompting on some coupons to scan multiple barcodes. I have run into problems with cashiers not understanding the new system and wanting to tell me newspaper coupons are fraudulent, that did NOT go over well with me. The new system has been in place for a few months and it seems to be getting easier, however scanning more barcodes on each coupon means each transaction is taking longer. It is always a good practice to warn the people behind you if you have more than 3 or 4 coupons. Grumpy people can move on, people who become grumpy can get an 'I told you so' look. If you get static on coupons, especially newspaper coupons, ask for a manager.
Walmart registers have changed over the last few months and they now have different scanners which I would love to explain... if I could understand it!! It seems like the registers are prompting on some coupons to scan multiple barcodes. I have run into problems with cashiers not understanding the new system and wanting to tell me newspaper coupons are fraudulent, that did NOT go over well with me. The new system has been in place for a few months and it seems to be getting easier, however scanning more barcodes on each coupon means each transaction is taking longer. It is always a good practice to warn the people behind you if you have more than 3 or 4 coupons. Grumpy people can move on, people who become grumpy can get an 'I told you so' look. If you get static on coupons, especially newspaper coupons, ask for a manager.
Printable coupons at Walmart are kinda a pain. The best thing you can do is ALWAYS use legitimate coupons. I am pretty sure that not only is coupon fraud illegal, but it is probably a Federal Crime given that it uses the internet and is essentially creating fake currency. I am not a big fan of the Secret Service knocking on my door, and orange is not my color, so I always use legit coupons. Legit coupons can be printed from Swagbucks, where you can earn gift cards for using coupons! Other web sites like coupons.com and redplum are legit coupon sites. Printing from those sites are safe. Even if you print from good sites, even if you buy the right item, even if your barcode is perfect... it might not scan. Walmart's policy clearly states if it doesn't scan they can't take it. Some cashiers will push them through, but they don't have to. Nothing sucks more than printing good coupons, finding the right product and then having your coupon denied. I get it. I have been there. Printable coupons can be a bit of a pain, but I think 95% of them go through with no issues.
So far Walmart has not done things like Target and issued their own coupons or aps but I see that happening in the future. You can use coupons aps like Ibotta and Checkout51 at Walmart which can give you cash back on things you buy.
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