Grocery Budget

I saw a post on a friend's Facebook Wall today asking how much people have in the budget for food.  This is a tough question for people to answer, and to compare from family to family. Some people buy all organic (we do not), have food allergies, fussy eaters etc. We are definitely guilty of processed food, and I don't feel guilty about it at all.   In my food budget, I do not count toiletries, cosmetics (who am I kidding, I don't use these!) or cleaning supplies.  Some people do. If you count those things in your food budget that is going to add quickly to your weekly budget. 
I have a family of 4, 2 girls a hubby and myself.  We allot on average $125 in the budget for food.  We don't always spend this much, but there are some weeks with amazing deals and then we stockpile! 
We have a deep freezer that we have full most of the time.  Currently we are in the middle of an "eat the freezer" time.  A few times a year we try to eat everything in the deep freezer to circulate the food, and also it really helps the budget. 
Our freezer usually has frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts from Costco, ground beef I buy on sale just before it expires, bread, pizzas, cheese, garlic bread, ravioli, tortellini, peppers and frozen fruit.  These are items we stockpile and of course there are other types of items.
Blocks of cheese freeze well.  When cheese comes on sale I buy lots and freeze quite a few bars that I plan to use for shredded cheese on items.   
Our pantry is also bursting at the seams with canned goods, baking supplies, dry pasta, treats, and a few bags of potatoes. See my pantry blog for more information. 
My hubby has a whole bin of items he uses just for his breakfast. He goes to the Bulk Barn and Walmart for this, as there are so many things in it that he blends together instead of using cereal. I have no clue what's in that bin, but I know its within the budget:) He has added he has just cut out the almonds and is trying a combo of peanuts and sunflower seeds as they are cheaper. Way to go...he is paying attention to the budget!
To save money at the grocery store I try to get most of my items at No Frills or the Super Store. I look in the flyers on Wednesday nights for items with bonus PC points (Superstore only) and this will help me determine if I go to the SS for the item, or just price match at No Frills.  I am working on using food in the item to meal plan.  I attempt to decide what we will eat at least 3 nights a week, this area also needs to be improved.  First thing on Thursday morning I also load my PC Points offers on my phone.  See my PC Plus blog for more information. I find that using this program earns us on average $20 a month to use as cash for groceries.  Also, because Loblaws has purchased Shoppers Drug Mart I got an email that I could trade my Optimum points to PC plus points, giving us $170 towards groceries.
I always search Superstore, No Frills and Sobeys for the magical pink clearance stickers. I buy bread, meat and produce close to expiration date to freeze.  I chop the peppers up for the freezer, and old bananas take them out of the peeling to freeze for smoothies. 
I get my milk each week at Shoppers Drug Mart, cheapest place in town and its not advertised in the flyers to price match. I have a friend that sells ground beef and I have ordered a lot for the freezer. It is  a bit more expensive then the store, but we know where it was raised and this makes us feel better.
I coupon!  I buy whatever I can using a coupon, and find this also helps keep food prices lower. I know that I need to start cooking more meals from scratch, and start using the bread maker.  I feel that if I start cooking these items I may see the weekly food budget go down $10 to $15 a week. 
Please comment below any tips you use to keep your food budget down, and also perhaps leave your food budget amount and how many people.  Share this blog and join Guess Who's Cheap on Facebook.