Walgreens Basics

I decided it is time to tackle the task of explaining how to shop Walgreens!  Put your thinking cap on and don't get discouraged if this takes some time to figure out!
First, Walgreens have Register Rewards (RR) instead of catalina's like Albertsons and Smith's.  RR are counted as a coupon in their system, not like cash.
Second, you can only use as many coupons and RR's as you have items for.  Meaning if you are buying 7 products and you are using 6 manufacturers coupons then you may only use 1 RR on this transaction.  If you would like to pay with more RR then you must find something inexpensive to buy (pencil, caramel etc.) You do not have to include Walgreen's coupons in this count, only manufacturer coupons and RR.
Third, you must pay whatever you owe in tax with cash or card, not a RR.  Meaning before coupons and RR your total is $30.00, in Idaho your tax will be $1.80 (you pay tax on the coupons that you are using).  Let's say you have $16.00 in coupons which brings your total down to $15.80.  You have (1) $7.00 RR, (2) $5.00 RR, and (1) $3.00 RR.  You can pay with the seven dollar RR, and 1 five dollar RR leaving your total out of pocket at $3.80.  You cannot use the $3.00 RR because you have to pay $1.80 in cash because that is what you owe in tax.
Fourth, you can not use a RR on the same product and get a new one to print. Meaning if you buy Shampoo and get a $2.00 RR and go through again and use that $2.00 RR to buy the same shampoo then you will not get another $2.00 RR.  So what you do is leapfrog products!  Buy the shampoo, get the $2.00 RR, go back and buy another product, let's say toothpaste, use the $2.00 RR and get a $1.50 RR.  Then you can go back and buy shampoo, pay with the $1.50 toothpaste RR and get another $2.00 RR. 
Fifth, you must pay close attention to the ad because they do not mark products that are on sale.  You can only purchase however many the ad says to get the RR.  For instance, if the ad says Herbal Essence Shampoo  $2.99- $2.00 RR is like paying $.99 that means you can only buy 1 shampoo at a time.  If you buy 2 you will only get 1 RR.  If the ad says Herbal Essence 2/$6.00 - $2.00 RR like paying 2/$4.00 then you can buy 2.  So decide if you are going to buy 5 different products that are all getting RR's in one transaction or whether you are going to leapfrog and buy 1 at a time so you can use the RR to buy the next product.  But remember if you are leapfrogging and using a manufacturers coupon then you must also buy something extra to keep your coupon ratio in check.
Sixth, don't be surprised when the register beeps and the clerk has no idea why.  We actually know more about their system at this point then most of them do.  Just take it one transaction at a time and be kind.  Get a refund if you need to and email me any questions you may have. 

Good luck and Happy Shopping!