Dawn Cher of SGBudgetBabe.com, one of Singapore’s top finance blogger, published a sponsored review of the Hugo app on 6 July 2021. Below is an excerpt of her write-up.
I’ve been using the app – which comes with my very own Hugo Platinum Visa Debit Card – ever since its launch, and truly appreciate how it helps me to save and invest my spare change, so here’s my review of the Hugo app! Instead of doing it physically, everything is automated and done through the app for me. Known as Roundups, this feature rounds up my spending to the nearest dollar and my spare change gets automatically swept into your Gold Vault where it is invested as gold, to accumulate and hedge against inflation.
Here’s how I’ve been personally using it:
- I set up a recurring transfer to give myself a monthly allowance by transferring $500 into my Hugo Account at the start of each month
- For retail purchases in physical stores, I simply tap to pay with my Hugo debit card (it works just like any Visa contactless card would)
- I also use the card to pay for food delivery and shopping online, having loaded the card details into my app / frequently-visited merchant websites like Shopee and RedMart
Check out my user demonstration video of the app here, or a day out with Hugo on my Instagram page here.
Every transaction gets recorded in the ledger on your Hugo app, with notifications as well. You can tap on each transaction record to add your own notes, such as even uploading a receipt if you need to.
This can also be ideal for those of you thinking of giving your kids/parents a Hugo Account + card where you can load their spending allowance each month (without worrying about them busting the budget!) and track where they’re spending at. Avoid a scenario of your kids spending thousands of dollars on online games, merchandise or even mystery boxes!
Without me having to do anything, Hugo has helped me to save and invest my spare change in my Gold Vault. Check it out here:
For instance, just imagine how much spare change Hugo can stash aside for you on an average day on just food alone:
- Breakfast at Ya Kun: $4.80 (roundup $0.20)
- Lunch at a hawker centre: $4.50 (roundup $0.50)
- Afternoon kopi: $1.80 (roundup $0.20)
- Dinner cai png: $3.50 (roundup $0.50)
- Ice-cream sundae at McDonald: $1.70 (roundup $0.30)
Total Roundups = $2.70
When you accumulate that kind of spare change regularly with each day of expenses, Hugo helps you to snowball it into a sizable amount without you having to deal with the hassle of loose coins in your pocket.
What’s better is that Hugo doesn’t let it just sit in your (digital) account as cash – it helps you to invest it into gold so that the value of your money doesn’t get eroded by inflation. What’s more, you can even buy, sell or save your money in gold in any amount that you want, from as little as S$0.01!
Just imagine: your daily $2.70 Roundups x 365 days = $985.50 of gold in a year.
By simply doing what you already do every day (spend, save and invest your loose change), every small action (or cents) adds up in your Gold Vault.
This article is an excerpt of a sponsored review of the Hugo app published on SGBudgetBabe’s blog on 6 July 2021. You can read the full article here.