Learning to Hound Deals at Walgreens

I'm trying to learn how to shop at Walgreens and take advantage of their programs.

I found this on The News & Observer and wanted to post it here for my reference til I get this down.

If you have any tips, hints or suggestions for me, please leave them in the comments. I have only shopped at Walgreens one time in my life, last week, picked up the May Super Saver catalog of coupons. That's all I know how to do at this point!

If the following information is obselete or incorrect, please let me know!

The Walgreens EasySaver Program is one of my very favorite rebate programs because it is so easy and actually offers an incentive to use it.

Basically, each month, Walgreens puts out a special little catalog full of extra store coupons and rebates on certain items that are good for the whole month. You can get the EasySaver catalog in the store (in the rack where they keep the sales flyers). Or you can view the EasySaver catalog online here. At the very least, you should pick it up for the extra coupons.

If you look closely at the weekly Walgreens flyer that comes in the Sunday paper, you will notice some items have little white or yellow boxes below them that show additional savings with a store coupon or a rebate. If you've ever wondered how to get those additional savings, they are talking about the EasySaver rebate program.

For me, I like to get the catalog at the beginning of the month. Usually most of the rebate items go on sale at some point during the month, so if you are patient, you can save even more. Also, there are usually about four items that are free after rebate (or FAR for short).

Here are the basics:

1) Go to the store and get the EasySaver catalog at the beginning of the month.
2) Pay attention to sales each week and buy stuff that qualifies for the rebates.
3) Save your receipts!!!
4) At the end of the month, gather your receipts and the EasySaver catalog. In the center, you will find a single form (I love that part!), where you fill in your contact info and mark a grid showing which rebates you qualified for.
4) Mail it, and wait for the rebate.

Advanced tip No. 1:

If you wanted to save a little more, you can check the little box next to your contact info that gives Walgreens the OK to send you the rebate in the form of a Walgreens gift card. If you do that, Walgreens adds 10 percent of your total rebate onto the card as a reward for choosing the card option. So, let's say you qualify for $10 in rebates. You check the box, and you get a gift card back in the mail for $11. They do this because they want you to spend more money at their stores. But that's OK by me though, and here's why...

Advanced tip No. 2
I have been basically recycling the same money on the same Walgreens card for more than a year now. How?

1) You do all of the above... buy the stuff, fill out the form, mail it in with your receipts, check the little box and get your gift card back in the mail.
2) THEN you use that gift card the following month to buy more stuff and qualify for more rebates.
3) When the end of the month comes, you mail in your form and receipts and again check the box, earning another 10 percent. So, if you now had $11, another 10 percent would be $12.10.
4) When your rebate is processed, you do it again. And again. And again. The end result is free stuff every month for doing a little paperwork.

A couple of caveats on this program:
1) Once you've completed the cycle once and have a gift card in your possession, you can simply enter your gift card number and e-mail address on the rebate form. Then, when your rebate is processed, you get an e-mail saying that the card you already have has been recharged, and off you go. No waiting for a new card in the mail.
2) You do need to pay attention to dates with this program. The EasySaver month rarely ends on the 30th or 31st. It's usually some odd date like the 27th. And you have only a week or so to mail in your form, so you really do need to stay organized and on top of things. If that's not you, it might be best to avoid this program.
3) But if you think you are organized enough and understood all my rambling, it can be a great program that can end up netting you a whole lot of free stuff every single month.