It was enlistment day in the Army, and I was feeling as grim as you’d expect. We’d just left our families behind, facing 2.5 years of regimentation, brutal training, and “delicious” combat rations.
Our instructor looked at our sian faces and said something I’ll never forget: “You’re already here. So you have two choices: You can go through your training with a long face and waste the next two years, or you can put in just 5% more effort to do your training well. Come out stronger, with new skills, and lifelong friendships. Your choice.”
The lesson stuck with me: If you’re already forced to do something, figure out how to get something out of it.
Fast forward to my adult life, and I found myself applying this exact principle to something far less dramatic but equally unavoidable: my bills.
The Millennials’ $30,000 Problem
Here’s a sobering reality check. Mid-career millennials like us blow through a shocking amount on three unavoidable categories.
I was curious about the exact figures, so I fired up Gemini Deep Research to crunch the numbers for the average mid-career millennial Singaporean. Here’s what it spat out:
- Housing¹: $1,768 per month
- Income taxes²: $268 per month
- Insurance³: $438 per month
That’s $2,474 monthly. Roughly $30,000 annually on bills you simply cannot escape.
Now, here’s the problem: traditional credit cards exclude these payments from earning miles or cashback. You’re dropping thirty grand a year and getting absolutely nothing in return.
It’s like paying for an expensive gym membership and never working out.
I used to be that guy. When my taxes were pocket change in my early career, I didn’t think twice about it. But as my income grew, something bizarre happened: I was spending more on taxes than on dining, travel, and shopping combined.
That’s when it hit me – I was leaving serious money on the table.
The Counterintuitive Way to Turn Fees into Miles
Enter bill payment platforms. Services like CardUp, Citi PayAll, and SC EasyBill. Here’s how they work:
- You pay your bills through their platform
- You pay an admin fee (typically 1.7% to 2.25%)
- You earn miles on transactions that normally wouldn’t qualify
My first reaction was to roll my eyes and go, “Okay, another scammy financial product that charges you fees for nothing.“
But when I took the time to understand – really understand – how they work, I realized they were a secret weapon for accelerating my miles strategy. The MileLion has dissected the intricate nuances of these platforms, so I spent a couple of hours devouring his analyses of CardUp, SC EasyBill, and Citi PayAll.
Still, I remained skeptical. Could I really trust some platform to handle my tax payments and mortgage safely? Would the payments actually go through? Would I end up hemorrhaging tens of thousands in fees?
So I started small – just a few hundred dollars in tax payments. When those went through smoothly, I got bolder.
Now? Virtually all my unavoidable expenses flow through these platforms. I pay thousands of dollars in fees, but I’m happy to do so.
Here’s why.
The Math That Flipped My Brain
Let me show you the calculation that turned me from skeptic to true believer.
The Setup:
- Annual unavoidable expenses: $30,000
- General spending card earning: 1.2 miles per dollar (You’ll want to use a general spending card for these platforms, because specialised cards don’t earn bonus miles here. I use the SC Beyond Card at 2 mpd, but let’s take a more conservative estimate of 1.2 mpd)
- Platform fees: 2% (You can often get even lower fees with promo codes)
The Numbers:
- Fees paid: 2% × $30,000 = $600
- Miles earned: $30,000 × 1.2 mpd + $600 × 1.2 mpd = 36,720 miles (You earn miles on both the transaction itself AND the fees you pay)
You’re essentially spending $600 to “buy” 36,720 miles that you’d never have earned otherwise.
But here’s where it gets interesting: As of August 2025, 36,720 miles gets you a one-way saver business class ticket to Taipei on Singapore Airlines.
How much would this ticket cost if you paid full price? I checked the price for April 2026 – 9 months away from when I’m writing this: $1,419 base fare plus $65.20 in taxes.
Do the math: Spend $600 in fees, get back $1,419 in value. That’s a 136% return on your “investment.”
Not bad for money you were spending anyway, right?
Stack It With Your Regular Spending
But we’re just getting started. You’re not only spending on unavoidable bills – you’ve got regular expenses too. Things like dining, groceries, travel, shopping, transport, and all that fun stuff.
Let’s say you spend $1,200 monthly on these (a pretty conservative estimate for a millennial). With specialised spending cards earning 4 miles per dollar, that’s 57,600 miles annually.
Total miles per year:
- Unavoidable expenses: 36,720 miles
- Discretionary spending: 57,600 miles
- Grand total: 94,320 miles
What does that unlock? Checking the Saver awards page on the SIA Awards chart: A round-trip Business Class ticket to Shanghai (86,000 miles). Or even better – a one-way First Class ticket to Sydney (93,500 miles).
First Class is where the magic happens. By redeeming First Class on certain routes, you might even snag Singapore Airlines’ legendary Suites – those private cabins that redefined flying for me.
My Switzerland Honeymoon (And Why This Actually Works)
Back in 2017, my wife and I redeemed the first-generation Singapore Airlines Suites to Switzerland for our honeymoon in Europe.
Flying in what’s essentially a hotel room at 35,000 feet – complete with a double bed in a private cabin, and a bathroom bigger than most Tokyo apartments – completely rewired our definition of luxury travel. It’s the kind of experience that would cost $8,000+ in cash but becomes achievable when you’re strategic about earning miles.
Since then, I’ve redeemed Business Class tickets to the UK, Turkey, Japan, Taiwan, Korea and more – sometimes twice a year. Each trip would cost thousands in cash, but the miles make it accessible.
Although these weren’t “free” tickets, they were strategic tickets, funded by the same unavoidable expenses I was paying anyway.
The Nuts and Bolts (Don’t Skip This)
Before you rush off to sign up, here are the key things to know:
Calculate your cost per mile (cpm): Use this metric to compare between platforms and decide which credit card to use. The lower your cpm, the better. How to calculate it? Take your fees divided by how many miles you’ll earn. So if you have a $1,000 transaction and a 2% fee, and you’re using a card that earns 1.2 mpd, your cpm is $1,000 × 2% ÷ ($1,000 × 1.2 mpd + $1,000 × 2% × 1.2 mpd) = 1.6 cents. As a rule of thumb, anything under 2 cents per mile is worth it, but obviously, the lower the better.
Use the right card: You’ll need a general spending card, not a specialised one since the latter typically don’t give you good mpd for these platforms. I personally use the SC Beyond Card (2 mpd) and UOB PRVI Miles Visa (1.4 mpd).
Hunt for promo codes: Getting the best value from these platforms means minimising the fees you pay. Thankfully, these platforms usually announce promotional rates early in the year. MileLion is my go-to source for finding the right promo codes (here’s CardUp’s promo codes for 2025). These typically refresh in Q1, just in time for tax season.
My own experience: CardUp typically has the best rates compared to the payment facilities from the banks. However, I’ve noticed this year that the most attractive rates tend to favor Visa credit cards. If you have a higher-earning non-Visa card, it’s important to do the math and figure out which platform + card combination gives you the best cost-per-mile.
Your Choice
Remember that army instructor’s wisdom: You’re already spending this money anyway.
For years, I dutifully paid my mortgage and taxes through bank transfers, thinking I was being responsible. Turns out, I was just being… boring. Now, those same unavoidable payments fund my business class adventures twice a year.
It’s not about spending more money – it’s about being intentional with the money you’re already spending. Sometimes the best opportunities hide behind things that look like obstacles.
Even fees.
If you’re new to CardUp and want to try it out, you can use this referral code which will give you (and me) up to $30 off your first payment. Or just sign up directly – no difference! I’m not paid by CardUp, just sharing good deals 🙂
¹This figure represents the average monthly household expenditure on housing across all types of households in Singapore in 2023. In 2023, housing accounted for a substantial 29.8% of average monthly household expenditure in Singapore. Actual costs vary significantly for renters (e.g., $2,967 for DINKs, $3,092 for families) versus homeowners (mortgage payments vary widely, plus property tax, e.g., S$48/month for a typical HDB flat).
²Based on an estimated annual income of S$78,000 (representative median for mid-career millennials), before personal reliefs and deductions. Actual amounts vary based on individual income and reliefs.
³Based on a recommended comprehensive insurance portfolio for a 30-year-old, covering hospitalisation, term life, critical illness, and long-term care. Actual costs vary based on coverage and individual needs.