Here’s What $200 Gets You at Kroger This Week (Sept 16–22)

Okay, new series idea, and I’m genuinely excited about this one: every week I’m taking Kroger’s weekly ad and building a full $200 family grocery cart out of the actual deals in it. Not the fake ones. Not the “was $8.99, now $8.79, what a STEAL” nonsense. The real price drops, stacked with digital coupons, shopped the way Pocket Change Mama actually shops.

This week’s ad runs Wednesday, September 16 through Tuesday, September 22, and I priced everything at my local Kroger. Your prices might wiggle a little depending on your store, but the ad items are the same, so this should get you close.

Ground rules: every digital deal below is either already clipped in my Kroger account or one you need to clip before you go. Two of the best ones are pickup/delivery-only. And yes, I did all the math so you don’t have to. You’re welcome.

Quick heads-up: Kroger sales and digital coupons can vary by location, so your prices might look a little different than mine. But this shopping list should definitely help get you started.

My handwritten math said $202.85 — Kroger rang it up at $203.49. Sixty-four cents of register math, I’ll take it.

The Meat Haul

🍗 Simple Truth Natural Boneless Chicken Breasts (~3 lb) — sale $3.99/lb, digital coupon takes $1.00/lb off (pickup/delivery only — clip it!) → final $2.99/lb = $8.97 · running total: $8.97

🥩 3-lb Kroger Ground Beef — digital deal (clip it!) → $11.97 ($3.99/lb) · running total: $20.94

🐷 Boneless Pork Half Loin or St. Louis Style Pork Ribs (~3 lb) — $1.99/lb → $5.97 · running total: $26.91

🐟 Kroger Atlantic Salmon Fillet Portion — $12.00 · running total: $38.91

🥓 Simple Truth Bacon — $5.00 · running total: $43.91

🌭 Kroger Breakfast Sausage Links or Patties — $2.69 · running total: $46.60

Dairy & Eggs

🥚 18-ct Kroger Eggs, Grade A Large — $1.99. A dollar ninety-nine. For EIGHTEEN eggs. In this economy?? · running total: $48.59

🧀 Tillamook Cheese — $2.49 · running total: $51.08

☕ Chobani Creamer — $3.99 · running total: $55.07

🥛 Chobani Greek Yogurt × 2 — $2.99 each with the mix & match 5+ deal → $5.98 · running total: $61.05

🧈 Challenge Butter — digital deal (clip it!) → $2.99 · running total: $64.04

Produce

🍑 California Yellow Peaches or Red/Black Plums (2 lb) — $1.99/lb → $3.98 · running total: $68.02

🫐 Jumbo Blueberries — $4.99 · running total: $73.01

🍎 Large Honeycrisp Apples (3 lb) — $2.49/lb → $7.47 · running total: $80.48

🍓 Strawberries, 16 oz — digital deal (clip it!) → $1.99 · running total: $82.47

🍇 California Seedless Grapes (2 lb) — $1.99/lb → $3.98 · running total: $86.45

🫐 Raspberries or Blackberries, 6 oz — $2.99 · running total: $89.44

🥒 Cucumbers × 4 — 79¢ each → $3.16 · running total: $92.60

🌽 Sweet Corn × 6 — 33¢ each → $1.98 · running total: $94.58

🥗 Kroger Salad Kits — 3 for $10 → $10.00 · running total: $104.58

Pantry & Snacks

🧀 Cheez-It Family Size Crackers — $3.99 · running total: $108.57

🥔 Party Size Lay’s, Kettle Cooked or Smartfood — digital deal (clip it!) → $3.49 · running total: $112.06

🥣 Kellogg’s Cereal × 2 — digital deal $1.79 each (already clipped in my account) → $3.58. Bonus: I’ve also got a 50¢ Kellogg’s manufacturer coupon clipped — if it stacks, that’s $1.29 a box. · running total: $115.64

🍫 Quaker Chewy Granola Bars × 2 — digital deal $1.49 each (clipped!) → $2.98 · running total: $118.62

🍕 Red Baron Pizza × 2 — digital deal $3.49 each (clipped!) → $6.98 · running total: $125.60

🥜 Jif Peanut Butter — digital deal $4.99 (clipped!) · running total: $130.59

🍨 Ben & Jerry’s × 2 — digital deal (clip it!) $2.99 each → $5.98 · running total: $136.57

🌭 Johnsonville Dinner Sausage — digital deal (clip it!) → $4.49 · running total: $141.06

🍖 Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce × 2 — $1.39 each with mix & match 5+ → $2.78 · running total: $143.84

🍲 Progresso Soup × 4 — $1.69 each → $6.76 · running total: $150.60

🍪 Chips Ahoy Cookies — $2.99 · running total: $153.59

🫘 Kroger Canned Beans × 4 — 89¢ each → $3.56 · running total: $157.15

🍝 Kroger Frozen Pasta — $2.99 · running total: $160.14

🥣 Post Large Size Cereal × 2 — $2.99 each with mix & match 5+ → $5.98 · running total: $166.12

🍅 Heinz Ketchup — $3.49 with mix & match 5+ · running total: $169.61

🍗 Tyson Frozen Chicken — $5.79 with mix & match 5+ · running total: $175.40

🍗 Tyson Chicken — digital deal $7.99 (clipped!) · running total: $183.39

Household

🧺 Arm & Hammer Laundry Detergent — $3.49 · running total: $186.88

🧴 Suave Shampoo or Conditioner — $1.99 · running total: $188.87

🪥 Colgate Toothbrush or Toothpaste — digital deal (clip it!) → $3.99 · running total: $192.86

👶 Huggies Wipes — digital deal (clip it!) → $4.99 · running total: $197.85

💧 40-Pack Kroger Water — $5.00 · running total: $202.85

The Damage: $202.85

Two hundred and two dollars and eighty-five cents for a cart with salmon, Honeycrisps, Ben & Jerry’s, bacon, and a small mountain of produce. I’ll take it. That’s a legit week-plus of groceries for a family, plus household stuff, for about two hundred bucks.

A few notes before you grab your keys:

• The mix & match 5+ items (Chobani yogurt, Sweet Baby Ray’s, Post cereal, Heinz ketchup, Tyson frozen chicken) need at least 5 participating items in the cart to get those prices — and we’ve got 8, so we’re golden.
• The digital deals marked “clip it!” weren’t clipped in my account when I checked — clip them in the Kroger app before you shop or they won’t come off at the register.
• The chicken breast and ground beef deals are pickup/delivery-only, so plan accordingly.

Skip These “Deals” 🚫

Because Pocket Change Mama loves you enough to tell you the truth:

🚫 Boneless Bottom Round Roast or Cubed Steak (USDA Choice) — $6.99/lb. It’s sitting in the “best deals” section like it owns the place. Seven bucks a pound for bottom round is not a steal, it’s a Tuesday. Wait until it drops under $5 and then we’ll talk.

🚫 Private Selection Sparkling Mineral Water — $10.99. This is in the ad. That’s it. That’s the whole deal. A full-price bottle of fizzy water with a spotlight on it. Hard pass.

🚫 Starbucks Coffee — $9.99 (with 5+ mix & match). Nine ninety-nine is what it costs when it’s NOT on sale. Putting it in a promo and calling it a deal is certainly a choice.

🚫 Kroger Supplements, Buy 1 Get 1 Free. BOGO on vitamins in a grocery ad is the retail equivalent of a “you up?” text at 1am. Not groceries. Not a deal. Moving on.

That’s week one of the $200 Kroger haul series. If you want me to keep doing these every week — and be honest, your grocery budget wants me to — let me know in the comments. And if you found a better deal in this week’s ad that I missed, drop it below. Pocket Change Mama never turns down a hot tip. 🧾

Update

I am not just doing this for show I am doing this to f*cking survive. I adjusted the list a bit to fit our budget and needs but I was still happy with what this list let me get.