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To save money... or not to save money...
It goes without saying that everyone wants to save and for some, invest too if the budget allows. But the brutal reality is saving money can be difficult for a lot of people, myself included. Why? That's because it is very easy to spend money without noticing how much you’re spending, and once it is gone, you can't get it back. 😌 I feel that good financial wellbeing, both personal and for the family, is one of the most important aspects of being a good father and husband.
To be fair, I have actually tried to save by actively putting some money aside each month but let's just say it's tough to be disciplined. I am always trying to find ways to maintain financial discipline so that when it comes to money, I can be a role model for my family, among other areas. So if that sounds all too familiar to you, how about trying a money savings hack?
Every time you spend, make saving money a HABIT and in the process, you will end up investing in gold too!
HOW???
Through Hugo, your Wealthcare® Buddy!
Hugo is essentially a digital account that helps you to spend, save and invest, starting with gold.
Note the above words in bold, because that is what Hugo is all about - to help me champion my and my family’s Wealthcare® so that saving AND investing become part of our daily routine and over the long term, it improves our financial wellbeing by building healthy financial habits. Because by spending smarter, saving for our goals and growing our wealth, everything that has to do with our finances becomes a HABIT.
How does Hugo work? Simply put, it is an account which functions just like your basic bank account where you can transfer money in and out, and comes with a Platinum Visa Debit Card which you can use for both physical and online purchases.
And it is super easy to get started too - all you have to do is to download the Hugo app from the App Store or Google Play Store, sign up with your personal details, and wait for your Hugo Card to be sent to you. I took just a couple of minutes to create my Hugo Account, and I only needed to send a photo of my NRIC and a selfie. I was in the app within the day and immediately ordered my Hugo Card. I found that the fuss-free signup was a nice experience!
Instead of the usual credit/debit card packs that are sent out by other banks, I was pleasantly surprised with Hugo's Welcome Pack. Well, the Hugo Card being a sleek and fun design is a definite plus but what caught my eye was the silicone card sleeve that came with the card. The sleeve has an adhesive at its back, and I can stick it onto the back of my mobile phone casing - which means Hugo is truly my Wealthcare® Buddy as the card reminds me of my savings and investment goals every time I spend.
Oh, and did I mention there are NO charges involved? The account, card and usage are all free to use. No initial charges or even monthly subscription fees! (This excludes gold trades as each transaction will carry a 0.5% admin fee)
So what's so special about Hugo?
HUGO ACCOUNT
For starters, being a "Digital First" card, your Hugo Account comes with innovative security functions. So yes, your money is secure and it is the same with the Hugo Card too. Notice that my Hugo Card is a numberless one?
It is deliberate so as to reduce fraud risk and ensure safety of one's transactions. If I should require the card details and PIN, I can securely access them within the Hugo app itself. And even if the physical card is stolen or lost, I can easily change my PIN, lock the card and request for a replacement card - all from the Hugo app.
Speaking of the Hugo app, can I just say I love how user-friendly and 'clean' everything looks on the app?
All the important information like my transaction history is clearly shown and easily accessed so I can track my purchases and have a better idea how I have been spending.
MONEY POTS
Setting out wealth goals is easy but the hard part is actually setting aside money in a disciplined manner every single month. So that is where Hugo's Money Pots come in.
Within the app, I can create financial goals and actively save for future spends I plan to make... erm, like saving up for a Playstation 5 console at the end of this year. Because that's what the kids want. 😁
And creating a Money Pot is super straightforward - all I have to do is to input the desired sum and end date, and the app will automatically calculate the monthly savings amount.
I like how Money Pots help me plan if the savings goal amount and timeframe is realistic and comfortable. Initially, I had set the savings goal of $900 to end of September but that would mean I will have to set aside $300 per month... which is a little unrealistic for me as the timeframe is too short. So the option of playing around with the savings schedule on the Hugo App, while keeping in mind my current financial obligations, is definitely a plus.
And to kickstart my savings goal, all that remains is to set the debit date.
I think saving for a common goal as a family is extremely important, and I involve my kids in the planning using these Money Pots. On one hand, I get to teach my kids the virtue of saving as well as delayed gratification. On the other hand, it also lets them know that money doesn't come easily and saving up for something actually takes a lot of discipline.
I remember back in 2019, when overseas travel was still in fashion, we set aside a piggy bank in the home to save up for a year-end trip to Europe. This piggy bank was placed near our door and we had to empty our loose change from our pockets every time we returned home. So this was our Europe fund and we continued doing so for the next 10 months.
Eventually, the total amount saved was close to $1,000 which wasn't even enough to fly our family there. 😅 We used that amount to spend it on food and experiences in Europe in the end but the experience of saving was priceless.
But there was one problem - we had NO idea how much we had saved every month unless we emptied the piggy bank and counted the coins... so the kids couldn't keep track of the amount saved every month.
Now with Hugo's Money Pots, I foresee it being so much more convenient in kick-starting a savings goal. In fact, I have even created 3 separate Money Pots for the monkies.
I have told them that I will add money into their respective pots when they earn it... like helping with the housework! See, a housework hack right there too. You're welcome.
So as an incentive, I have topped up $5 each in their respective Money Pots. But to grow their own Money Pot, I have told them that is entirely up to them. Stay tuned for my updates in my next blog post! 😁
ROUNDUPS
Now this is my FAVE feature of Hugo!
Because almost all of us have experienced difficulty in setting aside money for savings, Hugo helps us by rounding UP our spending to the nearest dollar!
When the wifey first learned of this feature, she remarked that she would prefer the roundups to be rounded up to the nearest ten dollars instead! 🤣 I asked why, and she explained that this form of enforced savings is very useful especially for someone like her, who doesn't set aside a fixed amount of savings monthly. And I have to agree with her - because even though rounding up to the nearest dollar may only involve cents with every purchase, a few cents here and another few cents there will eventually add up.
And the best part? You are practically saving without the uncomfortable feeling of tightening your belt!
GOLD VAULT
Did I say that the Roundups feature is my fave feature? Sorry, I lied.
Converting my Roundups into GOLD is my fave fave fave feature of Hugo!
We all know how Gold is often lauded as a stable investment, no? Besides offering protection against inflation risks, it generally has positive performance and most importantly, it is a relatively liquid asset.
But even though gold is pretty liquidable, you have to go to a bank, a bullion shop, open a trading account on some platform or go to a broker in order to buy and/or sell gold. In addition, most gold trading comes with minimum amounts per trade.
All the above does NOT apply to Hugo's Gold Vault. Because it cuts out the middleman and allows you to BUY and SELL gold easily. Therein lies the beauty of it all - everyone can now trade gold easily as Hugo has made it very flexible and accessible to all. Best of all, you can trade in fractional amounts too, absolutely no minimum trade required.
How Gold Vault works is each week on Wednesday, your accumulated Roundups are invested into your Gold Vault automatically.
I have been using Hugo for about two weeks now for almost everything, from meals with the family to even fried chicken! 😁😁😁
Yep, investing in gold had me craving for golden crispy fried chicken. 🤣
So while my Gold asset isn't substantial yet, I am happy to see my investment in Gold grow and long may that continue.
In case you are wondering, for each of your transacted gold purchase, you get physical gold allocated to you against your investment which is stored in an accredited LBMA (London Bullion Market Association) vault. So, you can sleep easy at night knowing your gold is safe and secure as it is insured by Lloyds of London. 😊
In addition to your Roundups being swept into the Gold Vault weekly, I can also monitor live gold prices and buy or sell gold for any amount. Each trade takes only seconds, and all in the palm of my hand. Personally, I love how trading in gold has been made so much simpler through Hugo!
As I mentioned earlier, I have been on Hugo for slightly over two weeks and I am still actively using the Hugo Card for my daily purchases. Somehow, I get a kick out of getting a huge roundup for my purchase... like this one.
A $0.98 roundup!!! Cheap thrill, I know. But like I have shared, all these little roundups do add up and in the long term, these get converted to gold which form part of my investment assets.
I found that how Roundups is used to buy gold is a great tool for teaching my kids that it’s never too early and no amount is too small to save. Every little bit counts when it comes to managing money. Every time Hugo notifies me that my Roundups have been swept into the Gold Vault, I get reminded of this money growth hack too.
So for someone who is not that disciplined enough to set aside savings each month or even if you are disciplined but want to manage your money better for the sake of your family, the collective usage Roundups, Gold Vault and Money Pots through Hugo will incentivise and train your brain into saving and investing on a regular basis.
And it will become a habit for you eventually.
If that isn't brilliant, I don't know what is.
Don't just take my word for it though. Try it for yourself FOR FREE!
Head over HERE to sign up and get a $20 Goldback® referral signup bonus when you sign up for Hugo's referral scheme and spend $100 on your Hugo Card within 45 days of signing up!
On top of that, you can earn $10 Goldback® for every new referral that signs up via your unique share link and spends $100 on their Hugo card within 45 days of signing up too. And they get the referral signup bonus too!
*Goldback® awards get deposited into your Gold Vault 60 days after signing up.
Visit HERE for more details.
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