Big bills that recur every year are often easier to handle when the amount is spread out over monthly payments. The regular installments can also make it easier for you to budget by keeping your expenses more uniform from month to month.

But that doesn’t mean paying monthly is always the best choice. In fact, some billers provide a significant discount for those who pay their full balance once or twice a year.

You’ve seen it on some small ticket items, like software or gaming subscriptions, where the cost is higher per month than if you opt to pay for an annual subscription right away. You can often save 10, 20 or even 30% this way.

But where you can really score the savings is on larger bills, and one of the top candidates for this is insurance.

Many home and auto insurance companies provide the option of monthly payments. And in some cases, the cost to pay monthly may be low or zero. But more often, there is a surcharge for splitting your bill into 12 payments, and it’s smart to figure out exactly what your insurer charges.

Life insurance also falls into this category. Though the percentage savings here might be just 10 percent or less, since these policies tend to clock in higher than your typical bills, you could save a modest little bundle by paying once a year.

What if you can’t afford paying all at once? One strategy is to work up to it by socking away funds in a savings account until you have enough for the full annual bill. At that point you can shift to paying your savings account just 1/12th of the annual bill every month, giving you enough funds to pay the yearly bill amount when the time comes.