Join us to review our May 2025 CBB Home Budget to see where we spent our money and how much we saved.
I’ll show you what a good budget is for a month if you give me a bit of your time.
Before we begin, if you’re new to CBB, the Free 2025 51-page Budget Binder is ready for download!
I also want to apologize that this post is so late, but it’s been so busy here, and trying to balance life has failed me.
However, I’m still here and moving forward. The next budget for June will be out soon.
Remember, the budget, like the blog newsletter, is always a month behind, so I have time to put the information together to present it. I’d have no data otherwise.
Thanks for your patience.
Why I Share Our 2025 Monthly Home 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 place.
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.
May 2025 Home Budget Household Percentages
Savings of 49.11% include investments and savings based on our net income.
Our life ratio is 31.07% and contains everything from groceries, entertainment, miscellaneous items, health/beauty, clothing, etc., all variable expenses.
Unfortunately, the LIFE category skyrocketed because of our massive grocery expenses in May.
Transportation is 0.66%, which covers our vehicle’s gas, insurance, and maintenance, and 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. For our housing, we came in at 8.68% for May
The projected expenses of 10.48% can change based on what we encounter monthly, such as a new item we need to save for.
May 2025 Home Budget Estimation and Actual Budget
Below are two tables: the May 2025 Home Budget and our Actual Home Budget.
Our May 2025 home 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 May 2025 Home Budget
For May, the estimated home budget was $8,390.29; we used $7394.92, spending under budget by $995.37.
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 May 2025 Home Budget
Current Canadian Banks We Use
May 2025 Home Budget Year-To-Date
Although our net worth increased by $17,000 in May, it was almost identical across the board from April.
The good thing is we didn’t have any major losses.
In the coming month, we hit a major milestone with our investment portfolio, which I’ll discuss more in the June budget.
Month-to-Month Home Budget April to May 2025
Our emergency savings increased by 9.41%, meaning we spent less in May, which increased our emergency savings.
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.
Between April and May, we had a 1% decrease in actual expenses, meaning we spent less than the month before.
Also, our net income in May increased by 1.72% compared to April.
Breakdown- May 2025 Home Budget Categories
Below are some of our variable expenses from May 2025 that I will discuss.
Please let me know if you’d like me to explain anything or include other information in the next budget update.
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 a whopping $1911.59 in May.
I know, let that sink in as it did for us.
For the month, we went over budget by $951.59, which was not surprising since we went to Costco.
Since we’ve overspent since February 2025, we need to catch up by $599.22+951.59= $1550.81.
I don’t know if we’ll be able to catch up, but we won’t give up.
There are months in the year when we spend less, so we are hoping that during these months we’ll be up to date.
If not, then the overage is taken into account the next year when we create our grocery budget.
With prices rising so much at the grocery store, it’s becoming challenging, as is our desire to find reduced products.
Our running total as of May 2025 is $7004 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.
I was reflecting on our grocery budget over the years, and in 2012, we were spending $190 monthly.
You do the math!
Food Price Changes Over The YEars
I’m planning on writing a blog post about our grocery budget from 2012-present to see what the changes have been.
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, we’ve always carried any overspending to the following month.
Eventually, it evens out, or we ensure by the end of the year that we balance the grocery budget.
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 one CBB reader participating in the challenge, and their grocery expenses are located at the end of this blog post.
I complete a Grocery update monthly so you can follow along to see how she is doing with their food budget challenge.
Types of Groceries Purchased
The two grocery stores we shop at the most are Zehrs and Food Basics. Also, we buy grocery items from Amazon Canada and Flashfood.
Costco And Our May 2025 Grocery Budget
I was going to type what we bought because I know some of you would want to see, but I decided to take a photo of the receipt.
Have a look at what $916.97 will buy you at Costco Canada.
If we had not gone to Costco (which we needed to), then we would have been slightly over budget for the month on groceries.
Often, what happens is that we find products that we will use, and they are on sale, so we stock up.
Mrs. CBB also bought doubles of some products just to save us money from buying them at a higher price from the grocery store.
There are also a few new products we bought to try or are using for blog recipes.
May 2025 Grocery Food Savings Jar
I can’t believe we’ve already saved over $1000 this year from Flashfood and coupons.
In 2024, we saved $1,712.87 using coupons and buying reduced products at local grocery stores.
Our all-time savings are $, 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 May 2025
For 2024, using the Flashfood App saved our family $992.60!
The total amount saved in 2025 is $2042 by using Flashfood.
Combining the Flashfood savings with our grocery savings jar, we saved $2705.47 in 2024.
We will continue to use Flashfood in 2025 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.
Flashfood Orders May 2025
Below are our May 2025 Flashfood orders. Any milk purchased in bags gets frozen, and the cartons get used first.
What do you think of our deals?
Pet Expenses
We’ve created a $350 monthly budget for our two cats, which we feed premium dry cat food and a higher-end wet cat food.
In May, we didn’t go crazy buying stuff for the cats, but get ready fr the June budget update, where things take a turn.
Our pet expenses for May came to $130.13, which was all food and treats.
PC Optimum Rewards Points May 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 8,303,961, and are working towards $9000 in 2025.
With the recent news about customers losing points, we are planning to start redeeming.
I follow a Facebook group specifically dedicated to PC Points in Canada to help with this process.
I’d like to gain inspiration and some insight on how to maximize our PC Optimum points when redeeming them.
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.
Since we didn’t purchase anything in May using the Shop App, there was no increase.
Canadian Tire Rewards Points
I didn’t spend too much on my CT credit card in May, so my CT Money Balance is $315.44.
Soon I might need some jeans, so I’ll head to Marks Work Warehouse to buy a couple of pairs.
Typically, I wear them out and repurchase the same ones or something slightly different.
When we don’t use the PC Mastercard for purchases, I use the Triangle Mastercard.
I know I promised you a review of the CT Mastercard, and it will get done 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.
Currently, we have $46 in Moi Points that we can redeem towards our groceries.
In comparison to PC Optimum Points, I find we are slow to earn rewards, as the offers we get points for, we don’t often use.
Does anyone have any tips, tricks or hacks to increasing rewards points apart from the obvious?
TD Rewards Credit Card May 2025
Our TD Visa has a cash-back balance as of May 2025 is $69.61.
This TD Visa credit card is not the best for reward points, as it took us 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 $500.
Last week, a representative called to ask if we wanted to increase the credit limit to $250,000.
At least, that’s what Mrs. CBB heard on the other end of the phone as we were outdoors watching our son’s soccer practice.
Turns out it was only $25,000, which seemed better, but we still turned it down.
Do you use a credit card with a low credit limit to use online?
Dream Air Miles Update
Most of the 4332 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 so we can ramp up our points.
If you participate, I’d love to hear more of your feedback.
Comment below or email me.
May 2025 CBB Net Worth Update
Overall CBB May 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 off in full by 2014, which was not easy, but we did it.
Our 2025 market home value is approximately $988,000- $1 million, 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 May 2025, our net worth increased by $17,588.63, although that could change the minute Trump opens his mouth.
I received a letter from the CRA, and they said I can invest $19,000 in my RRSPs this year, so I’ll consider doing that to max out.
Our son’s Disability Tax Credit assessment was returned, and we’ll be getting just over $15,000 back from my taxes.
They went back to the year he was diagnosed with Autism in 2019.
Likely, I’ll put that towards the room I have in my RRSP to get the money back to work for our family.
Registered Disability Savings Plan
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.
Currently, in May 2025, he has $17,000 in his RDSP being invested for his future retirement.
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 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 4 months, we are at one.
Budgeting takes serious commitment, and what I’ve learned over the years with any challenge I’ve hosted is that almost all participants drop out.
Although I’m sad, I’m not surprised because of life commitments.
Even though the three participants who dropped out all budgeted, they failed to set a few minutes aside to type up a submission.
It was clearly not part of their financial routine as I expected it to be.
On that note, if participant one finishes the year, she wins the challenge!! Easy win if I say so myself.
Let’s see if she can stick with the challenge and keep up with us.
The goal of the 2025 Food Budget Challenge is 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 buck, planning is necessary.
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, which we try to keep to a maximum of $100 per week. |
| Typically, we grocery shop at the following stores: Wholesale Club, No Frills, and Brady’s Meat. |
| In May, we saved $42.78 using flyer sales and not buying what we didn’t need.
We went to a couple of ethnic stores but kept the purchases of sweets to a minimum. |
| Signed, |
| Grumpy Grocery Shopper X 2 |
If you have any questions for participant one feel free to leave comments below.
That’s all for this month.
