Walgreens- A Great Resource for Saving Money

Walgreens, like CVS, is a great place to find deals on anything from the expected drug store medications and vitamins to personal care products, household products and even food.

To start with, Walgreen’s always has store coupons in their advertisements that you can pick up in the store. These are often referred to as IVC or Instant Value Coupons on message boards. You can always use a manufacturer along with a store coupon if you have one available. This is called stacking and should be allowed at any store.

Walgreens also offers coupons and rebates in a small catalog that they put out each month that you can find in the front of the store with the current weeks ads. This catalog is called the EasySaver Catalog and again you can use these coupons in combination with any coupon that says manufacturer on it for the same product.

Rebates are also found in the EasySaver Catalog and there are often free after rebate items offered in the catalog. The catalog is put out monthly and should only be submitted once online or through the mail per month. If you chose to reload one of their gift cards instead of having a check sent you gain an extra 10% back on your card with your rebate.

Another great thing that Walgreens offers on a regular basis is something called a register reward (RR), sometimes also called a catalina. RR’s are coupons triggered by a purchase at the register. Sometimes they are coupons for a $ off of an item, other times they are good for cash off of your next purchase.

Sales with RR’s are often advertised, but at times are a surprise. They are often triggered by purchasing a certain number of a particular product. If you know what triggered a $ off of your next transaction and wish to do the order again, keep in mind if you used the RR you received for purchasing the items won’t be triggered if you use it on the same deal again.

For example… say a $2 RR is offered if you buy 3 Crest toothpaste or Scope products.
You buy 3 toothpaste and receiver your $2 RR
-If you use the $2 RR and purchase 3 more toothpaste or Scope you won’t receive another RR.
-If you pay with cash and don’t use the $2 RR you will receive another $2 RR.
It’s best in this situation to pay with cash each time and use the RR on a different brand item that is offering a rebate or a good buy on something else you need.

Some have reported that their stores have allowed them to use RR to purchase or reload a gift card and then they make another RR purchase and are able to “roll” their RR this way. Some stores allow this and some don’t- YMMV (your mileage may vary). I have never done this as there always seems to be something I can use my RR on before they expire.

Those working at the cosmetics counter often have coupons and samples to share just for the asking and are very willing to help you. They love to have you come to their registers to check out and receive bonuses for having certain numbers of customers. If you are a regular at any Walgreens try to use the cosmetics counter when you can and you will most likely be rewarded with a nice familiar smile and help with coupons if they have any for the products you are purchasing.

If you combine sales, Walgreens coupons, manufacturer coupons, register rewards, and rebates you can often spend just pennies on the dollar for your purchases or even come out ahead.

Gotta Start Somewhere…

The first thing you have to do when considering your finances is to get into the mindset that you have to think about the future as well as what is going on in your life right now. How is what you do today or this weekend going to affect your financial future? It can in a lot of ways! They may seem minor on a daily basis, but can truly add up in the long run. Also, I’m not saying don’t go out and have any fun, on the contrary.

I think the hardest thing even for me being a saver is to not always get what you want right now. Time=money. We’ve all heard that, but let me suggest it in a new way.

If you think about it, how often do you think you just have to have something in the store and if you go home without it your realize maybe a week later that you never went back to purchase it and now it seems like a silly idea. Money not spent! How many times do we order a soft drink at the restaurant only to drink one glass and it cost us $2!!! Did we want a soda that bad? Was it that satisfying? Could we have waited until we got home and spend a $1 on a 2 liter that would satisfy 3-4 people? I used to tell my husband all the time that soda at a restaurant was outrageously priced… he’d buy it anyway and watch me drink water. Now that he’s begun to see that $2 as money towards another meal out or a movie or our sons college, he orders the water and waits until he gets home for the soda. Now if I order a soda on a rare occasion, he looks at me like I’m crazy. Funny how things change!

Another note about timing. I mentioned that I used to be the saver of the family. The best I knew to do was shop at Walmart and hope the things I needed that week were on sale. I would occasionally make it to another store if their milk or cheese was on a special sale, but otherwise stuck to one store for most of my shopping. This wasn’t a terrible plan, but little did I know what I should have been doing all those years. If I’d only known what I’d been missing I would have been watching for the sales on the items that I knew we used, and buying them only when they were on sale. Sounds simple enough doesn’t it? It was a whole new concept for me!

Buy purchasing items only when they are on sale I mean purchase what you will need of that item for say 2-3 months. When you do that for everything your savings start to add up. It does take a little extra money up front to stock up on these items and still purchase what you need for the home that week so do it as you can financially, but over time you will find that a sale comes up when it’s about time to purchase toothpaste so you do so and all the while you don’t need the regular purchase of shaving cream this week- your cabinet is stocked and ready. This is called stockpiling which we will dig further into later… but in this case timing=money.

We also talk about adding coupons to the whole saving money equation at a later time… hope your in for some real rewards

By the way, for you Walmart fans, I’m not downing Walmart by any means. If you are a shopper that has no interest for shopping sales at any level it’s probably the store for you. You can even use their sales as a starter to help you get going on some savings like this. Walmart will price match also if you find the same product for a better price that week take the flyer in and they will match the price.

But, if you’re up for the challenge and fun, I’d recommend shopping around a little as you have time and are able. You’ll be surprised over time what a difference it can make and how much less stressful shopping is. I used to walk up to an item we had to have and cringe at the price and pray we could make it one more week without it. Those days are no more for me, and it can work for you too!

These ideas seem minimal and like pocket change, but I encourage you to try give these ideas a try and I think you’ll be pleased that you did. Start at your own pace and try don’t try and radically change your spending quickly or you will burn out and feel deprived. Give yourself and your family time to adjust to changes as you talk about them and choose what works for your family.

God Bless…

Welcome…

Welcome to my website on saving money for your family. I’m not limiting this community to anyone specifically in the family, but generally hope to help and guide the financial minded person in the home.  I am inviting you to experience financial freedoms that you may not have considered for yourself.

I hope to help you and your family learn valuable ways to save money so that you can use it in a better way for your family.

I grew up in a farming community with both parents bent on saving money. I learned from mom that shopping is a necessity (whether we like it or not) and to be watchful for sales and rebates along the way. I learned from dad that the garden is a bountiful blessing even when you’re tired of homegrown tomatoes- they are certainly wonderful come winter.

Today it’s harder than ever to pay off those debts, put money back for a rainy day, and whose to even mention put some into savings? You’re right, I said it…. let’s put some money into our savings!

I encourage you to visit this page as I show you some of the techniques I’ve learned over the years for saving money, and I hope some of you can give tips as well along the way.

I plan to keep this page biblically based and will at times share some of my feelings regarding faith.  I pray that this page inspires you to make the most of what God has blessed you and your family with.