Coupon Count: Coupon to item ratio at Walgreens – One topic that confuses many people when shopping at Walgreens is the coupon count, or coupon to item ratio when using Register Rewards at Walgreens. One of our friends and fellow bloggers, Heather at Passion for Savings, offers some clarification on coupon count, or the coupon to item ratio when shopping at Walgreens with Register Rewards:

Today I want to talk about something that only applies if you are shopping at Walgreens. This is one of those things that typically gets people really frustrated and causes them to eventually give up.
Today’s topic is Coupon Count, this is something I do mentally when I am in a store, but I started out by writing it out to make it easier to understand. Let me explain the process:

1. The first thing you want to do is count your items. Let’s say you have 6 items

• 1 Bottle of Shampoo $2.99
• 2 Toothbrushes $1.49 Each
• 2 Tubes of Toothpaste $2.99 Each
• 1 Package of Gum $0.89

2. The next thing you would want to do is count up your coupons

• 1 $2.00 off 1 Shampoo Coupon
• 1 Buy 1 Get 1 Free Toothbrush Coupon
• 1 $2.00 off 2 Tubes of Toothpaste

This is where you need to know your coupon count. The coupon count allows you to know exactly how many register rewards you can use, and how many coupons you can use on a product. The Current Number of Items is 6, The Coupon Count is 4. Here’s where I get that number

Shampoo Coupon – This is $2.00 off 1 Item so it counts for 1 in your coupon count. You cannot use another coupon on the shampoo

Buy 1 Get 1 Free Toothbrush – This is one of the confusing coupons. This actually only counts as 1 Coupon because most of the time this is coded for the Free item only. You can actually use another coupon on the first toothbrush if you have a coupon that only counts towards 1 item

$2.00 off 2 – This coupon counts as 2 since it is taking $1.00 off each item.

3. Once you know your coupon count and your item count you can determine the number of “filler items you have or need”

• Remember: Your total number of Coupons and Register Rewards cannot exceed the number of Items

4. Since I have 4 Coupons and 6 Items I can use 2 Register Rewards in this transaction. I get asked all the time how many register rewards you can use in a transaction. Most of the time this is because someone gets to the front and they are told they can only use 2 register rewards when the third one beeps. This isn’t a “Standard” rule it just happens to be how the register works. Understanding the Coupon Count system can save you a lot of trouble at the cashier.

Heather lives in Northwest Arkansas and blogs at Passion for Savings. Her goal is to educate people on how to save money and get the best value for their dollar. Be sure to check out all the great deals on her site!