Walgreen's Coupon Policy

1. Walgreens does allow stacking. This means they will allow you to use one Walgreens store coupon and one manufacturer’s coupon for the same item.

2. When purchasing two of the same item that is on sale as a Buy One Get One Free – you can use a BOGO manufacturer’s coupon on that product or 1 manufacturer’s coupon only.

3. If you have a product on sale for .79 (for example) and a coupon is given with a face value of $1.00 – you will get the full $1.00 off. No money will be given back so you must purchase another item. The overage from the original item will go towards the second item purchased.

4. You may use coupons on clearance items.

5. The term “one coupon per purchase” means per item purchased.

6. They will accept internet printable coupons.

7. They will NOT accept expired coupons.

8. They no longer have rebates.

9. Register Rewards: Walgreens Register Rewards are Catalina coupons which print up separately from your register receipt after you purchase qualifying items. The Register Rewards can be used like cash on your next purchase.

Catalina machines are generally programmed to print one Register Reward coupon for one qualifying item. If you purchase more than one of the same qualifying items per transaction, you will only receive one Register Reward coupon.

In order to get more than one Register Reward coupon when purchasing more than one of the same qualifying items, request that the each item be rung up on a separate transaction. If you purchase different qualifying items in the same transaction you will receive one register reward for each item.

Note: In some areas the request for separate transactions may be denied. If so - find another Walgreen's that will allow you to do so. There are plenty of Walgreen's store locations in this area.

How To Organize Your Coupons!

If you have ever clipped coupons, you know what a hassle it is to organize them. I have tried many different methods. Years ago, I put the few I had into a plastic sandwich baggie and stuck it into my purse. This worked fine when I was not a serious coupon clipper.

Next, I moved on to the more obvious choice: a coupon organizer. You can find them at Wal-Mart and sometimes at the Dollar Tree. They are small expandable file folders to hold coupons. They come already labeled. This was a problem. My organizer had no label for baby items or many of the other things I had a lot of coupons for.

The trouble with this system is ---you have to sift through all of your coupons within a broad category to find THE ONE you are looking for. When you are a serious coupon clipper like me, you have a lot of coupons! I realized I was spending an extra thirty to forty-five minutes in the grocery store sifting through them on a big shopping trip.

While shopping for groceries, the ultimate coupon clipping nightmare occurred: I dropped the organizer! All I could think was NOOOOOOO! There where hundreds of coupons spread almost 10 feet around me. There I was, on hands and knees trying to pick them up one by one.

So I went looking on the internet and found a system that works for me. I use a zip up binder with baseball card inserts. Originally I tried putting the coupons behind index dividers grouped by category:

* Baby
* Baking
* Beverages
* Breakfast
* Canned Goods
* Condiments
* Cleaning
* Dairy
* Freezer
* Meats
* Misc. (for batteries, restaurants, etc.)
* Paper Goods
* Pasta and Rice
* Personal Care
* Produce
* Snacks

However, that did not work for me either as I still had to many coupons to go through to find what I was looking for. My DH (dear husband) told me to try organizing them by manufacturer. To my surprise that works for me. If it is a Kellogg’s product – it goes under the K’s, Gillette – the G’s, etc…
When I have determined what coupons I am going to need for a sale I pull them out of the binder and place them in a pencil pocket zip up envelope. I have them for my favorite stores: Target, CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Albertsons, and Dollar General.

Where Do I Find Coupons?

Coupons are everywhere! If you’re not looking for them, you often don’t see them when they are right in front of your face. So where can I find them?

1. Newspapers:

Every Sunday The Advocate should have coupon ‘inserts’. An insert is a booklet of coupons. The 3 common inserts found in the newspaper are: Smart Source (SS), Red Plum (RP), and Proctor & Gamble (P&G Saver or PG).

P&G Saver: This comes out once a month on the first Sunday of the month. It contains coupons on Proctor & Gamble items such as Tide, Downy, Dawn, Crest, etc…

Smart Source: Usually comes out every week with varying quantities of coupons in each.

Red Plum: This area received notice on 7/21/09 that Red Plum insert would no longer be in the Sunday paper. Instead it is going to come via snail mail when you receive your grocery store ads.

The only exceptions to when they are in the paper are holidays.

How many papers do I buy? I normally get one paper and find the coupon booklets and see if there are any extremely good coupons in that week’s insert. For example: There was a coupon recently for $2/1 any size A-1 Steak Sauce. Now I know that Target has the smaller bottles of A-1 for $2.09 regular priced. That would make each bottle .09 each. So that week I purchased 10 newspapers. I purchase mine at Wal-Mart which has the cheapest price on newspapers in the area. Just the savings on the A-1 paid for the papers and there were the remaining coupons as well to save even more money.

Each person will need to determine for themselves how many papers to buy but I recommend at least 4.

2. The Internet: There are so many good websites, but I would start out by searching the following:

http://www.coupons.com/
http://www.eversave.com/
http://www.redplum.com/
http://www.coolsavings.com/
http://www.boodle.com/
http://www.couponbug.com/
http://www.valpak.com/
http://www.couponsurfer.com/

These sites and many others have online coupons that you can print. You are usually allowed to print 2 copies of each coupon but no more. The second copy must be obtained by hitting your back button on your browser after you print the first, you will then need to refresh the page and a second copy will print out. If you try to print out more, the screen will normally pop up a message that says, “Sorry, you have printed the maximum number allowed.” If you really want to print more, go to a different computer.

****Word of Warning – Fraudulent Coupons:

Many people have been scanning internet printable coupons or copying them on color photocopiers. It is ILLEGAL to copy or scan coupons. Many stores will no longer accept internet printable coupons because of this. Each internet printable coupon has a code that can link that coupon to your internet protocol address. Please do not do this as it hurts everyone when stores crack down on coupon usage.
3. Tearpads: Have you ever seen coupons on a pad generally attached to a cardboard advertisement for that product in the store on one of the aisles? That is a tearpad. When I go to a store I keep my eyes open for them because I have found some great coupons. I normally will take no more than 4 coupons, always making sure that I leave some behind for others. Always be kind and leave some behind!

4. Peelies: Peelies are simply coupons that are found stuck on a product. Now let’s talk about removing a peelie and taking that coupon but not purchasing the product right then and there. Many people say that it is unethical to take peelies off a product without buying that product. Others will tell you to take some as long as you plan on buying that product in the future. What I will tell you is – do not take all of them. Try to limit yourself to 5 and leave the peelies for others that are going to be purchasing the product at that time.

5. Blinkies: Blinkies are machines that spit out coupons are usually situated around the product featured on the coupon. These are always found in the stores and never anywhere else. I stand at the machine and wait for it to spit out 5 or 6 coupons and go on my way.

6. Catalinas: Have you ever seen the little gray machine that sits next to the register and sometimes it will spit out a coupon for $1 off on your next purchase of a brand of item. That machine is called a Catalina – therefore the coupons that come out of the machine are called Catalina coupons.

7. Sample Displays: Many stores (not Wal-Mart) will have a sample day, usually Saturday or Sunday. Many times there are good coupons at those displays. Make sure to ask the person attending the display if they have any coupons and if so do they mind you having a couple.

8. Snail Mail or Email: Contact the manufacturer of all the products you buy. Check the back of boxes and bags to find the 800 number or look them up on the internet. Tell them how wonderful (or terrible) their product is, and ask if they have any coupons or coupon booklets they can send you. Also ask them to place you on their mailing list for any promotional items.

*I highly recommend setting up a special email account either with Yahoo or with Google and only using that email address for these promotions. The account that I use for promotions gets on the average of 200 emails a day. I do not recommend using the same email address that all your friends and family uses to contact you.

9. EBay or a Coupon Clipping Service: Many people swear by these. Usually these are the most effective if you have a specific coupon you are looking for.

Some of the coupon clipping services that I recommend are:

http://www.coupondede.com/ – you can purchase individual coupons and entire inserts. With fast and inexpensive shipping, you will find that you can have the inserts with the highest value of coupons delivered straight to your door for less than the cost of the paper.

http://www.thecouponmaster.com/ – allows you to order multiple specific coupons for a small handling fee.

http://www.thecouponclippers.com/ – also allows you to order multiple coupons for a small handling fee.

10. Coupon Swap Parties: Ok this way is definitely the most fun. Get together with a bunch of your friends that also coupon and trade coupons. If you don’t have an infant in diapers but your friend does and she has the pet food coupons you need – Trade with each other.

Now you know where I get all of my coupons!

My Coke Rewards

I am a self admitted diet coke addict. It is my source of caffiene and I drink it like crazy. There is a upside to my drinking as much of it as I do. It is called My Coke Rewards. Under every cap on every bottle of Coca-Cola products (can also be Fanta products as well) there is a code. Inside every 12 pack or larger of Coca-Cola products there is also a code.

Cap codes are worth 3 pts

Pack codes are worth 10 pts and up (depending on the size pack you are purchasing)

You can enter up to 120 pts per week - it resets every Sunday night at midnight.

If you register on MyCokeRewards -and faithfully enter those points you can redeem them for coupons off of future coke purchases or even gift cards to various stores and restaurants. I highly recommend this program.

Why Should I Use Coupons?

Grocery and household items are one of the largest expenses a family has. Ironically, they are also the easiest to cut. While there are many different approaches to cutting your grocery and household budget, couponing can save you the most money. With just a couple of hours a week, you can easily cut 50%-80% off your weekly expense.

Even if you’ve tried couponing before with little success, I encourage you to try my methods. Many have said that time is too tight to waste on trying to save a few dollars. This class will teach you the easiest and quickest way to save more than a few dollars. Instead of working extra hours or doing without, why not stretch what you already have?

Coupons are cash in paper form. To save money with coupons, you can NOT be brand loyal!

A friend of mine owned 4 stores. In the past two years due to the economy, he and his wife lost all 4 stores and their home. Having to cope with a lesser income – they started couponing. His comment was “When I think of all the money I have wasted over the years…it makes me ill.”