I stepped up my credit card game. After hours of research, I landed on the following cards:
- Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard to get 3% on all purchases including Costco
- Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa Card to get 4% at restaurants coffee shops and bars
- Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card to pay my rent with Chexy
- Wealthsimple Credit Card to travel since it has no FX fees
As 2025 comes to a close, I exported all my credit card transactions into a single spreadsheet so I could analyze my spending habits.
As you can see from the image above, rent is by far my largest spending category. The exact numbers can be found in the table below. The Chexy rent trick earned me over $250 in cashback! I only used it for 8 months in 2025, so I’ll earn even more next year if we keep renting.
The second-largest spending area this year was travelling. I used my credit cards to book my family’s flights to Edmonton to watch the Oilers play. Buying four plane tickets and game tickets is a great way to earn cashback!
I spent about 4K on restaurants in 2025. Again, much of this amount was split between people, even though I’m the one who paid. My wife and I enjoy eating out and discovering new places to eat in Ottawa.
It’s funny to think that I spent more on restaurants than on groceries this year. We live steps from a grocery store, and I use my 10% student discount on Tuesdays, so it’s more a reflection of how little we spend on groceries than of how much we spend on restaurants. We spent an average of $9.08 per day on groceries to feed two people. This is obviously not enough, but it makes sense considering we often eat out and are not home for a few stretches throughout the year. Some of our grocery spending falls into the Costco category as well. The Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard finally allows us to earn 3% back on our Costco purchases.
The next big category is benefits. I use my credit card to pay for physio, psychotherapy, and massotherapy. Our insurance company reimburses these expenses, so it’s essentially free money.
I spent $1000 on gas this year. We don’t use the car much as we try to bike and walk to places. I had to drive more this year because of health issues. We plan to buy a home near our work so we can continue to have only one car and limit our driving expenses.
The plot below shows my cumulative spending throughout the year. You can see that the first four months of the year were slower because I did not pay my rent with Chexy until May. The significant spike in August is due to paying for our trip to Edmonton. Spending 34K seems like a lot, and it is. Given that this number includes rent and that some categories like groceries are split between my wife and I, this amount of spending still allows me to pay myself first and achieve my financial goals while living a rich life.
I earned approximately 1K of cashback throughout 2025. I expect this number to be higher in 2026 because I can exploit my optimized credit card system for the full twelve months.
I know some people swear by travel points credit cards like the American Express Cobalt. As of now, I’m not a fan of cards with a fee. The only card with a fee in my system is the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card. I only have this card because I can pay my rent with Chexy. It more than covers the annual fee and gives me 4% back on groceries. Once I stop paying rent, I’ll drop the card and stick with the three-card system:
- WS for travel and foreign-currency transactions,
- Rogers Red WE for all purchases including Costco
- Simplii for restaurants, coffee shops and bars
I could even drop the Simplii card if I wanted to optimize for simplicity, but I’m ok with my current system. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions or would like to share your thoughts on your Canadian credit card system.
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