Can You Use Walgreens Cash on a Spend Deal?

What is a spend deal?

A spend deal is any deal that says you have to spend a certain amount to earn a specific amount back.

The deal might say spend $20, earn $5 in Walgreens cash. 

We've been getting booster coupons lately in our digital coupons that say, spend $20, get $5, or spend $50, get $10. That is what I'm referring to when I talk about spend deals. 

Why use Walgreens cash on a spend deal? 

We want to use our Walgreens cash to reduce our out-of-pocket costs. Instead of going up to the register and paying in cash or using my credit card, I can use the Walgreens cash that I've already earned to pay for my transaction, lowering my out-of-pocket costs. 

Let's say there is a razor deal for spend $20, get $5 in Walgreens cashback. We find these razors, let's say, at $10 each. So if we buy two of them, that is $20. We go to the register; we pay with $20 in cash. Will we get the $5 in Walgreens cashback? Yes, we will, because we spent at least $20. 

Products must equal spend amount

So rule number one is that the total amount of the products you're purchasing has to reach the total spend amount. So if the deal was to spend $20, get $5 in Walgreens cash, and these were $9.99 each, we did not reach $20. We are pennies short and will not get that $5 in Walgreens cashback. 

Using manufacturer's coupons

What type of payments can we use that constitutes spending the amount it asks us to spend? Of course, we can pay in cash, with a credit card, or a debit card. The good news is manufacturer coupons count towards the spend amount and act like payment. 

Again, a simple scenario. An item is $10 apiece. The total is $20. The deal is to spend $20 and get $5 in Walgreens cash. I have $5 coupons for both of these. So my total goes from $20 to $10 because I had $10 in manufacturer's coupons.  

According to Walgreens, those manufacturer coupons count as payment towards a spend deal. So those $10 in coupons plus the $10 I spend in cash at the register count to the spend $20, and I would get $5 back in Walgreens cash. 

So if rule number one is we have to reach the spend amount with the products we're purchasing, rule number two is that manufacturer's coupons count towards the spend amount. 

Register rewards

In addition to manufacturer coupons, manufacturer register rewards and Walgreens gift cards also count towards spend deals. 

Store coupons

Now, the third rule that you want to keep in mind, which is where it gets tricky for many people, is that store coupons reduce the spend amount. 

If you have a store coupon, which could be any with my Walgreens, that is a store coupon. 

Also, if you use a promo code, a coupon code online, or a 20% off coupon in the store, all of those are considered store coupons and reduce your spend amount. 

So if I had a razor at $10, and I had a spend $20 get $5 in Walgreens cash, and I used just one store coupon that reduced my cost below that $20, I would not get that $5 in Walgreens cashback. 

Paying with Walgreens cash

Here's another simple scenario that shows you how you can pay with Walgreens cash. The deal is to spend $20 and get $5. We have these razors. Now let's say these razors are priced at $12 apiece. That makes our total $24. 

We only have to spend $20 at the register to get the $5 back. So we could pay with $4 in Walgreens cash. Pay $20, and get $5 in Walgreens cashback. I still have these two razors priced at $12 each for $24. 

The spend deal is still spend $20 to get $5. Now let's add in coupons. Let's say I have a $5 manufacturer coupon for each razor. 

Instead of paying $24, we have $10 in coupons. We now only have to pay $14. But we want to use Walgreens cash to pay because we want to reduce our out-of-pocket spending. 

So we have to reach $20. We have $10 in manufacturer's coupons. That means we have $10 left to spend out of pocket. 

The remainder we can use Walgreens cash to pay for them, which means we can use $4 in Walgreens cash. $10 out of pocket, getting $5 back in Walgreens cash. 

It will work every time as long as you know the rules and you do it correctly. 

If you are not a math person and want to double-check your scenario, make sure that when you add the amount you're going to pay out of pocket and the amount you had in manufacturers coupons, it adds up to the spend amount you have to hit. 

Let's do one final example. Let's say I grab Nivea shave gels at two for $5, Colgate toothpaste at two for $5, and Revlon eyeshadows at two for $10. That's $20 total. 

We have a digital booster coupon for spend $10, get $5 in Walgreens cash. We are spending $20 based on this transaction. Let's say we have a $3 coupon for Colgate, a $2 coupon for Nivea, and a $5 coupon for Revlon. So five plus three plus two is $10 in manufacturer's coupons. Our spend deal was to spend $10 and get $5 in Walgreens cash. 

We hit the spend requirement using only manufacturer's coupons. That means we can pay the rest in Walgreens cash. We can pay $10 with those coupons, $10 in Walgreens cash at the register, zero out of pocket, and still earn $5 in Walgreens cashback. 

Can you use Walgreens cash on a spend deal?

That is how you successfully use Walgreens cash on a spend deal and still earn Walgreens cashback. Have you saved money using Walgreens spend deals? Share your wins in the comments below.