Now that we are in August, everyday life seems to have returned to near normality, with some new norms incorporated into our lives as we religiously follow the latest news on COVID-19 cases – nervously wondering if we will experience a second wave. However, it was not so long ago when all of us dramatically changed our daily routines during the lockdown. As for me – I learned how to cook (so much more than just instant noodles!), I planted vegetables (they didn’t die) and I prioritized buying local produce. I also spent hours reading digital books that I borrowed and exercised outside on my balcony at home. All in all, my lifestyle became environmentally friendlier, I saved a bit more money; and to be honest, I didn’t feel that inconvenienced. If your lockdown experience was anything like mine, the changes we had to make gave us a glimpse into a different lifestyle – one that makes sense to continue COVID-19 or not, for the sake of our mental, physical and financial wellbeing.
Through this experience, I found that I don’t miss many pre-COVID-19 extravagances. I realise that a life without those luxuries was still just as fun – little did I know that I would find watching plants grow (and then harvesting the leaves) therapeutic; and frankly the anxiety of sitting in a plane full of passengers makes the idea of flying that much less appealing. More importantly, the lockdown hammered home to me what was truly important – the health of my loved ones; the ability to spend time with those closest and dearest to me. That’s not to say I didn’t think about my finances – I did. But my priorities changed – it was no longer about how much money I could make from my investments but so much more about making sure that the financial welfare of my family was in place; it was no longer about solely making money for their future but so much more about being able to spend and enjoy quality time with my family. The trick is to find the time and energy to focus on our new priorities by finding convenient and easy-to-use solutions that will take care of our financial well-being.
Looking at these changes and how we’ve reevaluated our priorities, I can’t help but look back at our HelloGold journey and reaffirm the reason we built it. Today, HelloGold is more relevant than ever, to all users regardless of income and status.
When we launched HelloGold in 2017, we wanted to provide everyone in Malaysia with a convenient mobile-based platform to save in gold. Our priority was to make it affordable (start from RM1) and convenient by being available 24/7. To take it one step further, we launched our SmartSaver plan in 2018, which made things even more convenient, giving our customers time to get on with their other priorities. The plan allows users to save in gold without doing the work. Select your monthly savings value, set up your payment method and HelloGold does the rest. If you’re interested in the details, read about the SmartSaver here.
Now as we look ahead, we are working hard to find a way to enable our customers to save their spare change by rounding up the purchases they make to the nearest RM and saving the amount that is rounded up. When we launch this feature, it will mean that HelloGold will help to look after our customers’ cents so that their Ringgit will look after themselves, freeing up time for them to spend with their family and friends. If there is one thing COVID-19 has reinforced for me, it is this – time with my loved ones, not money, are my greatest investments. Yes, money is important, but it’s time well spent that gives me the greatest joy.