Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Shopping at Walgreens - My Experiences So Far

(This is a continuation to my post on how I am taking a break from shopping at CVS.)

When I was shopping CVS every week, every so often a great Walgreens deals would catch my eye and I would be jealous of the Wags shoppers. However, as I mentioned, I did go there for a couple of deals and proceeded to accidentally let my Register Rewards expire. I just don't have the time to keep up with the deals and rewards for both stores.

However, it started to seem like Walgreens was starting to have the better deals. I felt like more and more of the free deals at CVS were for things like over-the-counter medicines, which we rarely use, while the Walgreens deals were for more useful items, like wrapping paper and tape and Christmas and the always useful chocolate!

Walgreens' "Register Rewards" work pretty much like CVS's "Extra Care Bucks (ECBs)." However, from what I understand there are a few more restrictions on the Register Rewards; for instance, you can't roll rewards from the same deal. Walgreens also has coupons in their Sunday ad, which you can combine with manufacturer's coupons for great deals, so not all of their deals involve Register Rewards.  I'm still learning all the technical aspects of Walgreens deals.

I've only be shopping at Walgreens for about a month now, but so far I am happy. I have gotten very cheap deals on taco shells, Jello, feminine products, chocolate, and tissues. My store had all Christmas candy marked down to $.25 or less last week, so I picked some up for baking and treats.

One thing that I am enjoying about Walgreens so far is finding most of the deals in stock. That had become a huge frustration at CVS; no matter when I shopped (and I had tried many different days and times) I never could find a consistent time when products were likely to be in stock. With Walgreens so far, I have found 80% of the deals I am looking for. I still don't know whether this has to do with when I have been shopping (usually Saturday morning) or if Walgreens is just better about stocking items. One factor that may help this issue is that the store where I shop is a newer store, and it does not seem as busy as the CVS.

Overall, I am pleased so far, but I think I will need several months of Walgreens shopping to accurately compare the experience to shopping CVS.  So look for continuing updates!
 
How do you feel about shopping at Walgreens?

2 comments:

  1. I like Walgreens, and prior to getting by Extra Care Card it was my store of choice. And I'm shopping more there now too. I did notice that the coupon items that show up in their ad are often not signed in the store. So you do end up faring better if you've reviewed the circular.

    I'm also going to think about using Wags more because they are the only store in the area with a 24 hour Pharmacy and that is a BIG help when you need an emergency script at an odd time.

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  2. I've only tried Walgreens 4-5 times, but I just don't like it. I've lost money because they don't print what the RRs are for and you can't roll them on products by the same company. So one week I bought Huggies (Kimberly-Clark) and got an RR, then the next week I tried to use that to pay for some other KC product, unknowingly, and I didn't get the new RR. I also like that I have a whole month to use the ECBs at CVS, so if life gets busy I don't lose out.

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Thanks for commenting. I love to hear your feedback!