Save Now Save Later - Walgreens

I would buy certain items at Walgreens, but only if I can get a bigger return. Buyer beware, some items are more expensive here. So, shop around before making the final purchase. This blog is meant to help me to calculate its value and if it's worth to get out of my way to shop at Walgreens.

Question: How much do my Walgreen's Balance Reward points worth?

Walgreen's has a very strict earning bracket

How to earn the points: 

"With Everyday Points, you'll get 10 points per $1 on almost everything," according to the Balance Rewards page.

Earn more points and perks:

• Prescriptions get 100 points per 30-day and 300 points per 90-day.
• Bonus points on featured products
• 20 points per mile when you link to a healthy behavior app, like Fitbit.
• AARP members get 50 points per $1 spent (Did you know I redeemed my annual membership fee for 3 years already?) 
• Coupons from emails and mails.

Coming back with more coupons

To redeem:

1. You can only redeem the subtotal amount before tax.
2. It has to be the whole amount of $1, $2, $3, $5, $10 etc, see image above. 
3. Every 1,000 points equals to $1 from $1 to $10 and  $20 with 18,000 points, $35 with 30,000 and $50 with 40,000. 

My experience:

This can be very confusing. For example, my charge was $25.99 before tax. I can only redeem $20 or $5, not both. Sometimes, I could get a surprise discount after I carefully calculated the total. My purchase became a waste of time, after finding out the savings at the cash register. 

Bottom Line:

I can accumulate the points, easily. But when it comes to redeem them, I can only buy something with solid assurance on the price.

This is my first of several blogs on how to get money back. Next one is...