Signing up for a new credit card, or multiple cards, to get a large bonus can be intimidating. Banks award the points after meeting a sizeable spending requirement – most hovering at $3,000 and some being as high as $15,000. One of the ways to meet those requirements is by prepaying bills you already pay every month.

Now, there are some rules. We at The Frugal Travel Guy strongly believe in paying a credit card balance in full every month to maximize rewards, so make sure you can prepay these bills comfortably. If you cannot float the money for a few months, this method is not for you.

Cell Phone

Unless you rack up some serious roaming charges, a cell phone bill is typically the same amount every month. You can prepay, say, a year’s worth of bills to knock off some of the minimum spending, and it doesn’t cost extra.

Keep in mind, cell phone carriers impose limits on how much you can prepay, but luckily they’re pretty high for what we’re doing here. For example, T-Mobile allows payments up to $25,000.01 for consumer accounts. Contact your service provider for prepayment details.

Cable

Cable bills are similar to cell phone bills. If you’re under a contract, the amount owed remains somewhat the same. However, this can be a little dangerous. If you prepay your bill for months in advance and forget when the agreement with your cable provider is up, you might not always notice that the bill increased. I recommend keeping a watch on your charges every month just in case the rates change.

 

	Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Add to Favorites	$0 intro first year $95 annual fee	Earn 50,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $625 in travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards® Read Review »
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	Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Apply Now Add to Favorites
Sign Up Bonus $0 intro first year $95 annual fee Earn 50,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $625 in travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards® Annual Fee Already have this card? Maximize your rewards.
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Car Insurance

Car insurance is one of those expenses most of us cannot avoid. Not only will paying for six month or a year at a time allow you to meet some of the credit card spending, but it also will save you money with the insurer. Most providers offer significant discounts to drivers who choose to foot the bill at once. The only downside to this method is coming up with a big chunk of money. As mentioned earlier, do not pay high insurance premiums at once if you have to carry a balance on your credit card. The rewards are not worth the interest.

Health Insurance

Unfortunately, this category does not apply to those who receive health benefits through their employer and get an automatic paycheck deduction. However, individuals can use a credit card to pay for their health insurance coverage provided by a private company. Having a qualifying health insurance plan is mandatory, and it is unlikely that something drastic would happen next year, so why not prepay for a few months in advance?

Utility Bills

Some utility companies charge a small fee to pay bills using a credit card, so I recommend doing a bit of research for your specific power/water/gas provider. However, if the fee is fixed at a couple of dollars and is not a percentage of the paid amount, it could make sense to make a larger payment. Your advance payment could be the last thing between you and a large sign-up bonus that will yield points that are worth hundreds of dollars in return.

 

Which bills do you put on your credit card? Have you ever prepaid any of them for months at a time?