December 2025 Year-End Home Budget Review

Home Update

Good day, CBB friends, and welcome to our last home budget for 2025, which is exciting because we can share our final numbers.

I’ll warn you ahead of time that we don’t take our budget lightly and truly review how we can do better.

That said, we overspent in some budget categories, but we aren’t punishing ourselves for what has been done.

I think an important aspect of budgeting is to be mindful of spending, plan better, and move forward.

At the end of this post, you will see our final budget chart. In February, we will present our 2026 budget and discuss the changes.

Since we post once a budget month is over, the post will always be one month behind.

If there is anything you’d like to see more of in 2026 regarding our finances, please leave a comment or message me.

Thanks for following our monthly budget updates for 2025, and we look forward to hearing your feedback in 2026.

December 2025 Home Budget Estimation

Below are two tables: the December 2025 Home Budget and our Actual Home Budget.

We may not need all the money we budgeted for each category; however, remember that the amounts are estimates based on actual expenses from the previous year.

Don’t forget to budget for projected expenses through 2026, or your entire month can fail.

Actual December 2025 Home Budget Update

Current Canadian Banks We Use

Chequing– This is the bank account from which we pay our household bills. We use Simplii Financial, TD Canada Trust, and Tangerine Bank. Join Simplii Financial today! Read more about the best Canadian online virtual banks. Emergency Savings Account– This money is in a high-interest savings account (HISA) High-Interest Savings Account (HISA)– This savings account holds our projected expenses.

December 2025 Home Budget Year-To-Date

Overall, from January to December 2025, our monthly budgets were up and down but not by too much, thankfully.

Below, we will see in detail which budget categories drove the increases, so we can develop a plan for 2026.

Tracking your budget monthly is SO important, and many people don’t realize it until they’ve done it for a year.

The information you collect about your savings and expenses is a valuable tool for reducing debt and increasing wealth.

Month-to-Month Home Budget December 2025

Our emergency savings increased by 3.26%, indicating we saved more in December than in November.

Net income was 7.05% higher in December than in November.

The bad news is that we spent 10% more in December than in November; however, it was Christmas, and expenses were expected to increase.

Always expect to see changes from month to month, as that’s normal since money is being spent and, in some cases, more than anticipated.

December 2025 Home Budget Household Percentages

The 50.82% savings include investments and savings based on our net income (cash we brought home minus taxes).

Our life ratio is 25.76%, which includes all variable expenses, such as groceries, entertainment, miscellaneous items, health/beauty products, clothing, and more.

Transportation is covered at 4.04%, which includes our vehicle’s gas, insurance, and maintenance, and we hold no debt.

I keep the two spare gas cans filled with petrol year-round, mainly for the snowblower, lawn mower, power washer, and weed wacker.

Our house and vehicle are paid off with zero debt; however, we still pay property taxes and maintenance fees.

For housing, we came in at 8.98%, covering property taxes and home maintenance.

The projected 9.03% expense rate can change based on what we encounter each month, such as a new item we need to save for.

2025 Final Budget Percentages

Our final numbers for 2025 on the pie chart reflect condensed budget categories into five slices.

Life Ratio:29.05% – OUCH! Transportation: 1.99% Savings Ratio: 45.75% Housing Ratio:9.15% Projected Expenses: 10.31%

Final 2025 Year-End Figures

The chart above is the Excel chart our free budget spreadsheet produces for users at the end of the year.

As I reviewed each budget category with Mrs. CBB, we discussed which needed to be increased, decreased, or left the same for 2026.

It was clear right off the jump that we needed to increase our grocery budget, as we were over budget by $3631.

We felt that was significant, given how frugal we are, though we did give in to many in-store reduced-price items in 2025.

For 2026, our grocery budget will be $ 1,250 for 2 adults and an 11-year-old boy, plus a $25 monthly stockpiling budget.

There were two other categories that required increases in 2026: car/home insurance and electricity/water.

Most Canadians know that the price of car and home insurance rarely goes down, and we did get an increase.

For 2026, the new budgeted amount for car/home insurance was increased to $260 monthly.

There was a slight increase for electricity and water in 2025, so we’ve increased the monthly expense to $280 from $260 for 2026.

The miracle (ha) budget category that needs to be reduced is investments by $481.74 per month.

Explaining Pet Expenses 2025

Lastly, you may notice that our pet category was over budget in 2025, but that figure is misleading.

Our pet category included some one-time purchases that artificially inflated budget expenses.

For example, we purchased a $900 outdoor catio, and our ginger cat had a few expensive tests to figure out what was wrong with him.

Unfortunately, we still don’t know, and have tried to eliminate chicken from his diet at a massive cost.

So far, we’ve had two rounds at the local pet food store, costing us well over $100 each visit.

Unfortunately, nothing that we purchased, which was free from chicken and chicken meal, did he like.

So, for now, we will keep feeding him Fancy Feast because that’s what he loves.

Imagine not liking the posh food and wanting to eat the mid-pet food line.

Breakdown- December 2025 Home Budget Categories

Below are some of our variable expenses from December 2025 that I will discuss.

Please let me know if you would like me to explain or include any additional information in the next budget update.

Grocery Expenses December 2025

Please find all the online groceries we purchase in the CBB Amazon Storefront.

Our monthly grocery budget is $960, plus a $25 stockpile budget; we spent $911.75 in December.

Our current grocery overspend for 2025: $ 1,550.81 + $ 600.07 + $206.08 = $2,356.96 + $842.93 + $372.20= $3572.09–$322.84= $3631.70

While reviewing our final 2025 grocery budget category, we decided to increase the monthly budget to $ 1,250.

It may seem like a massive jump, but we feel it is necessary given how often we were over budget.

However, we are still going to shop frugally and buy on sale, use coupons, Flashfood, Good To Go, etc., while trying to maintain a $1000 minimum.

If we spend the full $1250, then we do, but if we don’t, then hooray.

In 2024, our monthly grocery budget was $900, but with price increases, we calculated an additional $60 per month, bringing the total to $720 per year.

I was reflecting on our grocery budget over the years, and in 2012, we were spending $190 per month.

You do the math!

CBB Food Budget Challenge Update

Below are the categories that eat up our monthly grocery budget.

Blog Recipe Creations Resale on Amazon General groceries Flashfood purchases Shoppers Drug Mart 20x points (all deals and best prices only).

Where We Grocery Shop

The two grocery stores we shop at most are Zehrs and Food Basics. Also, we buy grocery items from Amazon Canada and Flashfood.

On occasion, we visit Costco and Walmart as needed to buy in bulk or take advantage of a good sale.

Check out my new post, where I explain how to find reduced-cost groceries on Amazon.

December 2025 Grocery Food Savings Jar

We have officially saved $2,524.86 in 2025 through Flashfood and coupons, which is fantastic, especially since we don’t typically use many coupons.

In 2024, we saved $1,712.87 by using coupons and purchasing reduced-price products at local grocery stores.

Throughout 2026, we plan to track our grocery food savings, which include the following;

Coupons Discounts Free Stuff (ex, using SCOP) Rewards Points redemption

If you’d like a copy of the Grocery Savings Jar, you can find it on the Free Resources page.

In December 2024, I shared a blog post about our upcoming 2025 Food Budget Challenge and was looking for fans who wanted to join us.

We started out strong in 2025, but in the end, we have one person in the challenge whom I’m proud of for sticking with it.

I’d like to take a moment to congratulate her for successfully completing 12 months of the Grocery Savings Jar.

For this, I will send her a $25 PC Optimum Gift Card.

December 2025 FlashFood Purchases

Pet Expenses

I don’t want to talk about these food-guzzling monsters costing us a fortune. Haha.

I’m kidding, but they do eat quite a bit, are picky, and cost a fortune.

Above, I discussed their expenses, including vet bills, housing costs, and challenges with pet food.

PC Optimum Points Update

Since 2018, we have earned over 9 million PC Optimum Points, equivalent to $ 9,000.

We started 2025 with under 7 million PC Optimum Points, and as of December 31, 2025, we had 8,677,616, worth $ 8,670.

I’m working on a blog post explaining how we plan to earn 10 million PC Optimum Points in 2026 and how we will spend them.

You may be shocked!

How We Saved So Many PC Optimum Points

Below are blog posts for anyone interested in learning how we earn PC Optimum Points.

How To Earn PC Optimum Points Fast How We Earned 4 Million PC Optimum Points President’s Choice Financial World Elite Mastercard PC Insiders World Elite Mastercard

Canadian Tire Triangle Rewards Points

The Triangle Rewards balance was $410.29 in November, so I spent some of the money, leaving a balance of $306.08.

I’ve said it before, and besides the PC Optimum Credit Card, the Canadian Tire MasterCard is my favourite for collecting rewards points.

What is your favourite rewards points credit card?

Comment below.

Moi App Rewards

For every 500 points earned, buying products with Moi points equals $4.

My Moi app review is in the works, and I think we’ve had enough experience to offer our feedback on the program.

Currently, we have $54 in Moi Points that we can redeem towards our groceries.

Compared to PC Optimum Points, we are slow to earn rewards because we don’t often use the offers that earn points.

TD Rewards Credit Card December 2025

This TD Visa credit card isn’t the best for rewards points, as it took us years to earn $500.

We use this account exclusively for online purchases from Amazon, PayPal, Shopify, and other similar platforms.

The credit card has a $5000 limit, although we initially started with $500.

What other credit card besides PC Mastercard offers you amazing cashback?

Overall CBB December 2025 Budget + Net Worth Update

Our net worth increased by $2,213.59 in December; however, our cash and emergency savings tool a plunge by $259.79, resulting in a 0.11% increase in net worth.

To be transparent, as I always am, I pulled the net worth numbers late in November, which ended up being too close to December’s final numbers.

That said, November and December were reasonable months, but they weren’t balanced on paper in terms of the timeline.

Ideally, I pull the numbers at the beginning of each month, but things fell apart in November and December with Christmas and work. It happens. Life goes on.

Where Is Your Mortgage?

In the fire pit.

I’ve had a few people email me about our mortgage and why it’s not included in the chart.

After purchasing our home in 2009, we paid it off by 2014, which was not easy, but we managed to do it.

Our 2025 market home value is approximately $988,000 to $1 million, and we purchased the home for $265,000 in 2009.

Mrs. CBB, since she doesn’t work, last contributed money to her RRSP in 2009, and it was valued at around $47,000 after she lost money in the financial crash.

Today, it’s worth over 200k. That’s the power of time and why it’s so important to invest when you can, even if it’s something small.

She also has a Locked-In Retirement Account (LIRA) that started with $2000 in 2009 when she left her job, and it’s now sitting at about $8000. Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do with this LIRA so we just watch it grow and invest the money.

I still have room to contribute to my 2025 RRSP, which I may top up come tax time, but I’ll wait and see how the Canadian economy looks.

Final 2025 Food Challenger Update

The 2025 Food Budget Challenge aims to determine whether participants can stick to their grocery budget and how much they can save in 2025.

Below is the last remaining Canadian Budget Binder fan who is participating in sharing their grocery budget and expenses with everyone for the year.

We started with four participants in January, and in less than four months, we have been reduced to one.

Budgeting requires a serious commitment, and what I’ve learned over the years from any challenge I’ve hosted is that almost all participants drop out.

On that note, if participant one finishes the year, she wins the challenge!

Let’s see if she can stick with the challenge and keep up with us.

Food Budget Challenger #1

Hi Mr. CBB,

My family consists of 2 adults, and we live in Ontario. Our monthly grocery budget is $400.00, which equates to $4,800 for the year.

For 2025, we kept under this threshold, even with using our PC Points. We used $363 in PC Points, bringing our full-year spend to $4,448.49, which was under $300.

Typically, we grocery shop at Wholesale Club, No Frills, and Brady’s Meat. We started shopping at Giant Tiger and Food Basics when sales are good.

In December, we exceeded by $277.49 because it was our final shop of the year, and we bought extra treats and stock-ups that I won’t get until spring, when the weather is nicer for driving to Fergus.

Signed,
Grumpy Grocery Shopper X 2

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