November 2025 Home Budget Review

Reflecting on November 2025, join me as I review our home budget and share lessons learned from our struggles with grocery spending.

Home Update

We’re nearing the end of 2025, which means a home budget review will be underway to assess our performance for the year.

I already know that our grocery budget is shot, and like most Canadians, it has been a struggle to keep costs low.

To be fair, we could have done better, but I’ll save our mistakes for the update post so you can learn from us.

My new work schedule was given to me just before Christmas, and it appears I will be working late three days a week.

When I say ‘late,’ I mean finishing at 6 pm, which is the latest I’ve ever had to stay. However, as most of my colleagues stated, at least we have a job.

There have been numerous layoffs at my employer, including a few in our department, which is always an uneasy time for employees.

Thankfully, if anything were to happen to my job, I do have a plan B, and 2026 will be about “Saving Money” for a rainy day themed.

We saw it when the pandemic hit, and now, with steady job losses in 2025, paired with increased costs and tariffs, the impact is being felt by Canadian households.

The last thing we need is to be unprepared for the pink slip, as it will put a dent in our retirement and savings goals.

What would you do if you were to lose your job today? How can you prepare for that?

Blog Update

Over the past year, I’ve been working on updating the blog from design and everything in between.

I’m far from done, and I’m finding broken links and mistakes that I’m working on fixing. Some posts are from so long ago, I won’t bother as they are dead and buried in Google’s eyes.

Leading into 2026, you’ll find the updated Excel Budget Spreadsheets, along with the printable budget binder.

If you want certain budget binder printables that I don’t offer please let me know and I’ll see what I can do for you.

That’s all for now, CBB Friends,

Enjoy our November 2025 Family Budget update.

Mr. CBB

November 2025 Home Budget Household Percentages

Savings of 53.35% include investments and savings based on our net income (cash amount we brought home minus taxes).

Our life ratio is 24.31%, which includes all variable expenses, such as groceries, entertainment, miscellaneous items, health/beauty products, clothing, and more.

Transportation is covered at 0.90%, which includes our vehicle’s gas, insurance, and maintenance, and we hold no debt.

I keep the two spare gas cans filled with petrol throughout the year, 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 our housing, we came in at 8.62%, which covers property taxes and home maintenance.

The projected expenses of 9.67% can change based on what we encounter monthly, such as a new item we need to save for.

November 2025 Home Budget Estimation

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

We may not need all the money we budgeted for in each category; however, remember that the number is only an estimate based on the actual expenses from the previous year.

Don’t forget to budget for projected expenses, as your entire month can fail if you don’t plan accordingly.

Actual November 2025 Home Budget

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.

November 2025 Home Budget Year-To-Date

The year-to-date percentages are similar to the household budget percentages chart; however, this one shows you the percentages month by month.

Month-to-Month Home Budget November 2025

Our emergency savings increased by 50.08%, meaning we saved more in November than we did in October. Whereas our net income was higher in October than in November by 0.74%.

I suppose the good news is that we spent less in November than we did in October; however, we anticipate higher expenses from October to December due to the holidays.

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.

Breakdown- November 2025 Home Budget Categories

Below are some of our variable expenses from November 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 November 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 $627.16 in November.

We spent $322.84 under budget for the month.

I’m fairly certain that November has been our lowest grocery month for the entire year of 2025. Miracles do happen.

Our current grocery overspend for 2025: $ 1,550.81 + $ 600.07 + $206.08 = $2,356.96 + $842.93 + $372.20= $3572.09–$322.84= $3249.25

Overage will be considered 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 November 2025 is $1 for two adults and one child.

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

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

You do the math!

CBB Food Budget Challenge Update

As mentioned, we spent less in November, and it was our best month to date.

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.

November 2025 Grocery Food Savings Jar

We have officially saved $ 2,271.72 this year from 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 2025, 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 heavy in 2025, but in the end, we have one person in the challenge whom I’m proud of for sticking it out.

Our Flashfood Savings Last Year

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

I’ll tally it up again at the end of 2025 to see how much we save on groceries.

We continue to use Flashfood because it saves us a significant amount of money.

Please consider signing up using my affiliate code below.

Sign up for Free with FlashFood and earn a $5 Credit.

As you do, you’ll receive $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 find acceptable.

Use my referral code, MOCD28ZN4, for a $5 credit.  

Your first purchase must be over $15.

Flashfood Orders November 2025

In November, we picked up seven Flashfood orders, which I will show you below.

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.

Our pet expenses for November 2025 totaled $401.78, exceeding our budget by $51.78.

Another month of stocking up on wet cat food and treats, which are costly.

I can see why most cat owners would feed their pets dry food. Had we done that from the start, we would have been in a better position, although the vet says the wet is the best.

Almost all of our cat food is purchased from Amazon and the dry food from a local pet store.

PC Optimum Rewards Points November 2025

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 November, we have 8,659,241 and are working towards $9,000 by the end of 2025.

Although our goal seemed optimistic at the beginning of 2025, I don’t think we will earn 1.4 million points by December.

Last month, I asked if you thought it would be a good idea to use our points on groceries in 2026.

However, a new opportunity has arisen, which I will blog about to let you know how we will utilize our Shoppers Optimum Points.

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 are adding up again $410.29, but have no fear, I like to spend them.

I’m just waiting for the next big purchase so I can get it for free.

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, as we don’t often use the offers for which we get points.

TD Rewards Credit Card November 2025

This TD Visa credit card is not the best for reward 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 credit card do you use besides PC Mastercard that offers you amazing cashback?

Overall CBB November 2025 Budget + Net Worth Update

Our net worth increased by $7,697 in November; however, our investments declined by $6,416, resulting in a 0.37% increase in net worth.

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.

In October 2025, our net worth increased by $20.469.71, primarily due to increases in our investments.

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.

I still have room to contribute to my 2025 RRSP, which I may top up come tax time, but I’ll wait and see what happens with the state of the Canadian economy.

2025 Food Challenger Updates

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,

I am feeding a family of 2 adults and live in Ontario.

In 2025, we aim to achieve 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.

We started shopping at Giant Tiger and Food Basics when sales are good.

In October, we saved $28.57 by using flyer sales and avoiding purchases of unnecessary items.

We don’t roll over extra, nor do we roll over overages. Each month is on its own accord.

Signed,
Grumpy Grocery Shopper X 2

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