After teaching school and piano lessons, but before confirmation questioning, I squeezed in quick shopping trips to Meijer and Kroger on Tuesday.

First, I went to Meijer.

I was disappointed to find that they were out of my Boston contact solution. This was the main reason I went there, as I have contact solution solutions that are expiring this week. Sigh. I’ll try to make it to Walmart or Target this weekend to use my coupons before they expire. It’s rare to find coupons for hard contact solution! Contact solution ramblings aside, here’s what I bought at Meijer.

The best deal was certainly my razor with the free package of refills. The orange peppers were on the mark-down rack for $0.67 so that was a pretty good deal, too.

At Meijer, I spent $8.87.

Then, I hurried down the road to Kroger.

Due to coupons (free product coupons and tripled ones), the Dawn dish soap, Wisk laundry detergent, Kraft Fresh Takes, and Del Monte vegetables were all free.

After the current “Buy 10 products, get $4 off” promotion, which I stacked with two $1.50/1 Hillshire coupons, I bought the Hillshire brats for $1.57 a package. I love the grilling deals I’ve been finding recently, as this is the prime time for those!

I was also excited to get a box of Trix for $0.49. I haven’t had this cereal in awhile, but it is a fun treat, especially at this low price. It has a Boxtop, too!

At Kroger, I spent $9.92 and saved 82 percent! I also was surprised (and delighted) to receive a $2 catalina off my next purchase, due to an unknown grilling promotion.

I found it interesting that I spent almost the same amount at both grocery stores, but I had a lot more to show for my money (and coupons) when I shopped at Kroger.

This week, I spent $18.79 on my quick shopping trips. This brought my May total to $89.90. Oh! I did “sell” 4 cases of my surplus water to Ascension for their DC trip. That means I can add $10 back to my grocery budget, so I’ve actually spent $79.90 this month. Half way through the month, I’ve spent almost exactly half of my grocery budget.

How was your shopping this week? Are you stocking up on grilling bargains like I am?