Estimated reading time: 21 minutes
Get a comprehensive recap of our February 2025 budget update. Find out how we fared in our spending goals and plans for staying on target the next month.
I’ll show you what a good budget is for a month if you give me a bit of your time.
Before we begin, the Free 2025 51-page Budget Binder is ready for download!
Why I Share Our Monthly Budget
For anyone new to CBB, this briefly explains our monthly budget update.
First off, if you’re a person who wants to learn how to create a monthly budget, you’ve come to the right space.
Budgeting puts you in charge of your money, meaning you are the boss.
That’s a big role to fill if you want to keep your company afloat.
I look forward to putting this post together as it lets us see where we spend our money.
A budget also acts as a diary for your expenses so you can look back to see success and failure.
Our budget update also lets readers know that we are not perfect and must make changes like everyone else.
We use the tools (Free budget Binder), and I hope you have downloaded your free copy.
Alright, let’s get into this.
February 2025 Household Percentages
Savings of 47.40% include investments and savings based on our net income.
Our life ratio is 27.05% and contains everything from groceries, entertainment, miscellaneous items, health/beauty, clothing, etc., all variable expenses.
Transportation is 3.93%, which covers our vehicle’s gas, insurance, and maintenance, and it holds no debt.
Our house and vehicle are paid for, and we have zero other debt; however, we still pay property taxes and maintenance fees.
The projected expenses of 10.40% can change based on what we encounter monthly, such as a new item we need to save for.
February 2025 Budget Estimation and Actual Budget
Below are two tables: the December 2024 Budget and our Actual Budget.
Our February 2025 budget represents two adults and a 10-year-old boy.
Budget Colour Key: It is a projected expense when highlighted in blue.
Since May 2014, we’ve been mortgage-free, redirecting our money into investments and home improvement projects.
Spending less than we earn and budgeting has been the easiest way to pay off our debt and save money.
This type of budget is a zero-based budget where all the money has a home.
Estimated February 2025 Budget
For February, the estimated budget was $; we used $, going over budget by $. The overage is mainly in the birthday and Christmas budget categories.
We may not need all the money we budgeted for in each category; however, remember the number is only an estimate from the previous year.
Don’t forget to budget for projected expenses because your entire month can fail due to not planning.
Actual February 2025 Budget
Current Canadian Banks We Use
February 2025 Budget Year-To-Date
Month To Month Budget January-February 2025
Our emergency savings decreased by 15.74%, which mainly came from investments.
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.
Overall, our net income went down mainly due to extra income earned in January.
Breakdown Of Our February 2025 Budget Categories
Below are some of our variable expenses from February 2025 that I will discuss.
Groceries
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 $1614.37 in February.
Our running total as of February 2025 is $2732.36 for two adults and one child.
In 2024, our grocery budget was $900 monthly, but with price increases, we calculated a further $60 monthly or $720 yearly.
We’ve since changed part of our diet, adding higher-protein foods and a low-carb/keto lifestyle.
Since we started tracking our grocery shopping in 2012 on this blog, we’ve always carried any overspending to the following month.
In December, I shared a blog post about our upcoming 2025 Food Budget Challenge and was looking for fans who wanted to join us.
Currently, we have three CBB readers participating in the challenge.
I complete a Grocery update each month so you can follow along to see how the three CBB fans are doing with their food budget challenge.
For February 2025 we were supposed to have a grocery budget of $801.91 since we overspent in January by $158.09. (we failed miserably)
Unfortunately, February was not the month to try and catch up with the overspend as we went over again.
Types Of Groceries We Bought
In February we may have gone overboard buying groceries however we needed a major stockup.
The two grocery stores we shop at the most are Zehrs and Food Basics
From reading the receipts, we stocked up on grass-fed beef and butter that was on sale along with Krisda sugar-free chocolate chips, which were not.
Unfortunately, Krisda is struggling to get products on the shelves, so we stocked up.
Costco And Our Grocery Budget
We anticipate a trip to Costco in April or early May, which might put us over the grocery budget.
I wrote a post about typical products we buy from Costco, which I update as I find new products to add.
Costco Haul February 2025
Since so many of you emailed me because you wanted to see what we buy at Costco, below is a copy of our receipt so you can see our purchases for February 2025.
A couple of items were new to our shopping cart, such as the Turkey Jerky, Grenade, and Fit Pro protein bars.
You will notice that we spent $179.88 on instant coffee which will do us for the year maybe a bit less.
If you see items where you feel we could save more outside of Costco, please let us know your strategy.
February 2025 Grocery Food Savings Jar
In 2024, we saved $1,712.87 using coupons and buying reduced products at local grocery stores.
So far, we’ve saved $401.63, which we have kept in our high-interest savings account.
Throughout 2025, we plan to track our savings, which include the following;
If you’d like a copy of the Grocery Savings Jar, you can find it on the Free Resources page.
Our Flashfood Orders February 2025
For 2024, using the Flashfood App saved our family $992.60!
Combining the Flashfood savings with our grocery savings jar, we saved $2705.47 in 2024.
We will continue to use Flashfood as we save so much money, so please consider signing up using my affiliate code below.
As I do, you get $5 free when you place your first order. It’s a win-win for both of us.
Every person who signs up gets a $5 credit, a freebie Flashfood offers for new app customers.
Also, Flashfood has added a small service fee to every order, which I feel is acceptable.
Use my referral code, MOCD28ZN4, for a $5 credit.
Your first purchase must be over $15.
My birthday was in February and Zehrs had these lucrative deals on the Flashfood app that we may have celebrated a few times. Ha!
Overall, the cakes were decent and nothing went to waste, just to my waist. It’s a good thing I workout 7 days a week.
Whenever organic milk shows up on Flashfood, we try to scoop up as many 4L bags as we can. It all goes into the freezer, and we take a bag out to defrost as needed.
Health and Beauty
Our budget for the month is $485 however we went over spending $689.43 as we stocked up on vitamins, and other beauty products for you know who, (not me, ha).
Although we do shop on Amazon, if there is a 20x points event at Shoppers Drug Mart and products we use on sale, we pair them together.
Often this might mean we go over budget however we are receiving PC Optimum Points back.
We rarely buy anything that is full price unless we need it or the product doesn’t go on sale.
Most items purchased from Amazon were vitamins and haircare both for Mrs. CBB.
Vehicle Maintenance and Repair
Our CAA membership renewed in February for another year which we’ve purchased for the past 20 years.
I had to use it once many years ago when a dear hit my truck and destroyed the windshield, interior and front end.
Pet Expenses
In February, we spent $339.29 of the $350 pet budget mainly on cat food and litter.
However, we did go to the pet store to buy two bags of Farmina dry cat food.
They are pricey but high-end food for the cats, which we prefer to give them, and we accept they cost more.
Besides Amazon, we have been purchasing online from Chewy Canada, which arrives two days after ordering.
Plus, you get 20% off your first three orders, which is amazing since their prices are competitive.
I will write a Chewy Canada review in 2025, as we’ve placed about nine orders and feel we have solid information to tell our readers about.
Extended Healthcare Expenses
My benefits cover up to $2500 in dental at 100%, $500 in eyewear every two years, and $4500 in therapies at 85%.
For 2025, we are expecting to incur expenses in the extended healthcare budget category for the following services;
- Occupational Therapy
- Speech Therapy
- Dentist
- Eyewear
- Massage (if I’m lucky)
Canadian Tire Rewards Points
Our Canadian Tire Triangle Rewards card is fantastic; I can earn money back quickly.
My February 2025 Triangle rewards are worth $361.95, which I can use towards any purchase.
When my CT money balance increases, you know I’ve been spending money and taking advantage of flyer sales on 20x the points days.
Always activate your Triangle Rewards to get the best bang for your buck at the many stores Triangle Rewards offers.
I have yet to write a Canadian Tire Mastercard blog review, but it’s in the making as my second favorite credit card.
Look for a CT credit card review in 2025.
Canadians Who Shop Online Use Rakuten
Do it if you order anything online and haven’t subscribed to Rakuten Canada.
Not only do you get $30 cash free from Rakuten when you use the CBB link, but you also get cash back from thousands of online stores.
You have 90 days from signing up to use Rakuten for an online purchase before receiving the $30.
Read my full review of Rakuten Canada if you are still unconvinced.
We regularly receive cheques in the mail from Rakuten.
Above is a photo of our current Rakuten cash back earnings for 2025 is $11.69 which may not seeem like lots but it’s better than earning nothing.
I mean, we were shopping online anyway, so why not earn cashback with the click of a button?
PC Optimum Rewards Points February 2025
Since 2018, we have earned over 9 Million PC Optimum Points or $9000.
We started 2024 with under 7 million PC Optimum Points, currently have $7,945,108 and are working towards $8000 in 2025.
Eventually, we will use points to do a redemption, but we haven’t been compelled to do so like years previous.
What would you redeem our points for to get the best return on investment?
How We Saved So Many PC Optimum Points
Below are blog posts for anyone wanting to learn how we earn PC Optimum Points.
Shop Points
The Shop Cash is a rewards program that’s available to Shop app users in the United States and Canada on eligible purchases.
Moi Rewards
We earned no Moi points in February, but hopefully, we will see some movement in 2025.
For every 500 points earned, buying products with Moi points equals $4.
I’m in the process of writing a review of the Moi app, but I wanted to experience the program for a few months.
I’ll be sharing our ongoing rewards progress here each month in 2025.
TD Rewards Credit Card February 2025
Our TD Visa has a cash-back balance of $43.38 as of February 2025, which is pretty good since I cashed out $500 in October 2024.
This credit card is not the best for reward points, as it took me years to earn $500.
We only use this account for online purchases from Amazon, PayPal, Shop and Shopify.
The credit card has a $5000 limit, although we initially started with only $500.
Dream Air Miles Update
Most points are from our house and vehicle insurance, which offers Air Miles.
There was a point where we had to choose Cash Miles or Dream Miles.
Since my family lives in the UK, we felt the Dream Miles would have worked best for us.
I’m making it my mission for 2025 to learn as much as possible about the Air Miles program and would love some tips from any passionate collectors.
There is an Air Miles receipts program that I want to learn about.
If you participate, I’d love to hear more of your feedback.
Comment below and tell me what you know.
February 2025 CBB Net Worth Update
Overall CBB February 2025 Budget + Net Worth Update
I’ve had a few people email me about our mortgage and why we don’t have one in the chart.
After purchasing our home in 2009, we paid it in full by 2014, which was not easy, but we did it.
Our current market home value is approximately $988,000, and we bought the home for $265,000 in 2009.
We choose not to add our home value into the net worth update as it doesn’t make a difference since we live in the home.
In February 2025, our net worth increased by $14,107.67, or 0.76%, although if you look at the chart, our retirement investments nose-dived by $7387.88.
With the state of the Canadian economy, and the tarriffs Donald Trump has implemented I’m unsure what will happen in the coming months.
We are living in a time where Canadians have to hold on to hope, especially those retiring soon that their investment savings don’t tank.
Our son now has a Registered Disability Savings Plan, in which we placed $5000 to get the government to pay back to the date of his autism diagnosis.
I’ll write a blog post about the process we went through for Mrs. CBB and our son if anyone wants to learn more about our experience.
Comment below and ask me any questions you’d like me to address in the post.
2025 Food Challenger Updates
Below are two Canadian Budget Binder fans who are participating in sharing their grocery budget and expenses with everyone for the year.
The goal of the 2025 Food Budget Challenge to see if they can stick to their grocery budget and see how much they can save in 2025.
As you know groceries are very expensive in Canada at the moment and to get the best bang for your budget planning is necessary.
Let’s see how they did in February.
Food Budget Challenger #1
Hi Mr. CBB,
I am feeding a family of 2 adults and live in Ontario.
In 2025, we’d like to accomplish these goals…
• Pay down debt
• Cut down on unnecessary shopping
Our monthly grocery budget is $400.00
Typically, we grocery shop at the following stores – Wholesale Club, No Frills and Brady’s Meat.
In February, we saved $141.74 using flyer sales and not buying what we don’t need.
Signed,
Grumpy Grocery Shopper X 2
| Date | Category | Debit | Store |
| Feb 1 2025 | Food | 8.98 | Wholesale Club |
| Feb 1 2025 | Food | 51.48 | No Frills |
| Feb 5 2025 | Food | 9.00 | No Frills |
| Feb 8 2025 | Food | 8.98 | Wholesale Club |
| Feb 8 2025 | Food | 57.10 | No Frills |
| Feb 8 2025 | Food | 4.98 | RCSS |
| Feb 14 2025 | Food | 16.68 | Brady’s Meats |
| Feb 14 2025 | Food | 34.56 | No Frills |
| Feb 22 2025 | Food | 8.98 | Wholesale Club |
| Feb 22 2025 | Food | 57.52 | No Frills |
Food Budget Challenger #2
Hi Mr. CBB,
I am feeding a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children aged 4 and 6) and live in Ontario.
In 2025, we’d like to save as much money as we can to put towards our mortgage as we are up for renewal in June 2026.
Our monthly grocery budget is $ 800 ideally.
We do eat out so I would like to have a combined food budget for restaurant and grocery for 1000 per month.
Typically, we grocery shop at Giant Tiger, Independent, Shoppers and sometimes Foodland but not often.
In February, we saved $81.02 with PC points, I also deposited a cheque from checkout 51 for $45.03 that went towards our grocery budget.
We have signed up for a meat delivery service which is more expensive but very good quality meat.
We are really liking odd bunch but need to make sure all the produce gets eaten before it goes bad..
We spent $998.76 at the grocery store and $280.29 in restaurants this month; however, this includes over $100 dollars in diapers/pull-ups because we got $20 in points back andpull-ups $100 in over-the-counter medication costs.
For February we are over budget by 279.05 but factoring in those other costs we almost made it on budget for groceries.
Overall Thoughts
What I learned about grocery shopping this month is to look closely at PC Optimum offers.
I got some really good deals from my PC app, which allowed me many. For example, no-name cheese was able to get PC offers for spending over $25 in the cheese department, as well as spending on no-name offers and a specific weekly offer for no-name points.
No Name Cheese had PC offers for spending over $25 in the cheese department as well as spending on no name of greeters and a specific weekly offer for No Name Cheese.
By buying 3 large 700g blocks of cheese, I earned all these offers in one transaction and ended up getting around $8 in PC points making one of these blocks of cheese free.
I also check instagram for Living on a Loonie and the Coupon Couple before making my list so I can see if there are any amazing deals on things I would normally buy.
| 6 | Feb 1 | IND | 46.31 | |
| Feb 1 | GT | 54.29 | ||
| Feb 6 | checkout 51 | -45.03 | ||
| Feb 7 | Foodland | 35.94 | ||
| Feb 8 | Shoppers | 89.52 | 23.93 pts | |
| 181.03 | ||||
| 7 | Feb 13 | meat | 302.56 | |
| Feb 15 | IND | 103.13 | 10 pts | |
| Feb 15 | GT | 65.5 | ||
| Feb 15 | sobeys | 30.78 | ||
| Feb 15 | dollarama | 10.78 | ||
| 512.75 | ||||
| 8 | Feb 18 | odd bunch | 23.99 | |
| Feb 18 | macewans | 4.29 | ||
| Feb 21 | shoppers | 14.99 | 0.19 pts | |
| 43.27 | ||||
| 9 | Feb 24 | IND | 193.99 | 46.90 pts |
| Feb 24 | GT | 43.73 | ||
| Feb 26 | oddbunch | 23.99 | ||
| 261.71 | 81.02 |
CBB Food Challenger #3
Hi Mr. CBB,
I am feeding a family of 3 adults and live in Southwestern Ontario.
We are paying down last year’s overspend with the extra money we don’t spend on groceries this year.
We still owe for overspend this year but will tackle that when last year is paid off (soon).
Our monthly grocery budget is $ 800.00 (last year was $600.00 a month)
We spent $1726.95 for the month but there were things we normally don’t spend money on. Costco trip was $137.80(once a month is a Costco shop) & ¼ beef which was $1090.00.
On my meal plan for the month, I used a lot from the freezer & cupboard again.
We had burgers, wraps with leftover chicken, meatloaf & veggies, potatoes, chicken thighs.
Eating out included pizza which, we paid for.
About 99% of the time we shop at No Frills (it is in our town & we can price match)
In February, we saved quite a bit using flyer sales & price-matching.
I didn’t figure out what we saved.
About grocery shopping this month is that we didn’t have to buy any meat as we have a freezer full so it was just fresh fruits & veggies & anything needed.
Signed,
Tracy
