If you missed part one about rainchecks at CVS you can read it here.
We’ve all been to Walgreens at one point or another only to find the shelves empty, especially of food fillers and free after RR items(ok, probably every week). This is actually a bigger frustration to me than dealing with the “# of coupons vs # of items” issue. As complicated as the Wags system can be, getting a raincheck can actually make navigating the muddy waters at Walgreens a little bit easier.
- One store may be out of a great filler (or never got them in stock) but another store may have them. Get as many rainchecks as possible while the filler is on sale (like seeds at .10 each!) so that you can use them for fillers at another store. It’s nice to have a raincheck for a filler because a lot of the fillers I want are usually out of stock when I shop.
- Some weeks there just aren’t any cheap fillers, so you could use the raincheck to buy something you do want at a good price.
- Walgreens will not issue a raincheck that reflects the “after RR” price, but they will issue one for the sale price. A friend was unable to find any Motrin PM that was free after RR, but got a raincheck for the $3 sale price. She will still get 2 boxes for free by using the $6/2 Q with the raincheck. While she was hoping for a $3 moneymaker, free is still free!
- One store in Tyler was issuing rainchecks a couple years ago that reflected the after RR prices as long it is not free. My friend (who is really a wonder at this Wags thing) and I got rainchecks for an item that was $.99 after RR. She used them with her $1/1 Qs a few weeks later to score them for free. We both thought it really odd that this store would issue rainchecks like this, so YMMV, but it’s worth asking about.
- Just like with any other store you may find a great sale price but have a large stockpile on that item already. If you find it out of stock during the week and get a raincheck, you’ll be able to replenish your stockpile at a later date but at a guaranteed great price.
- Likewise you may later find a store Q or manu Q for the item you are wanting to buy.
- You may have a raincheck for a sale price and find the item has a RR attached to it at a later date. If the requirement is that you buy a certain # of products and not a certain $$ of products, your RR will likely still print.
- Rainchecks are great for slow RR weeks. If you have RRs that are about to expire but nothing in the current ad worth buying, use those rainchecks to still get a good deal. Don’t forget that rainchecks can’t be used on anything in the dairy case though!
Some general things to keep in mind about rainchecks:
- Walgreens and CVS rainchecks do not expire, but many stores clearance out their products regularly, so the particular product and
size you have a raincheck for may not be available if you wait too long. Some CVS and Walgreens stores will mark an expiration date though, so watch this just in case. Most grocery stores’ rainchecks are only valid for 30 days. - Be sure the cashier fills in all the needed information (size restrictions, price, ECB code and amount at CVS) You’d be surprised how many times you’ll get one that isn’t complete and can’t be used. I had one for honey at Wags for 1.99, but the size wasn’t noted. When this happens (and sometimes I do it anyway) I attach the ad image to my raincheck for reference.
- Some products especially seasonal ones never get restocked. I have seen many items go on sale because they are trying to clear room for a new size of the same item.
- Most stores won’t issue a raincheck for clearance items. Target also does not issue rainchecks for “price cut” items.
- You should give your raincheck to the cashier with the item(s) it is valid for to avoid having to void those items and enter them again.
- It would be courteous to use the cosmetics or photo register or to shop for groceries at a slower time of day if you are going to be using multiple rainchecks and coupons. We don’t want to give them a reason to not like us, now do we?
I hope these two posts have given you a few new ideas to help you save a little bit more each week. If you have other ideas or points that should be noted about rainchecks, please share them in the comments. Thanks!
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