We’ve been sharing ideas about how happiness comes from experiences, not material items, and research shows that the more you focus away from money, the happier you’ll be.

If you can avoid the sudden urges to purchase material items, you’ll be able to save your hard earned dough for fun experiences and be happier.

Mike Tyson didn’t really need 3 Royal Bengal Tigers. Now he’s happy spending time with his family.

But sometimes, there’s no money left after all the bills are paid. Money has this unique ability to vanish – literally. So, it’s important to keep your fun money separated from your bank account.

Everyone loves knowing they have a little spending money set aside, which is why many of our cardholders are using their Mogo Card for fun money – smart thinking!

Cardholder Cory V. getting down on something tasty. Oh and cute card Cory. #mogocard

“As of today, I’ve totally given up on using my regular debit card in lieu of my Mogo Prepaid Visa Card. I put all of my spending money on the card and leave the rest in my savings account. Gotta save up for that new Xbox!” – Cory V.

Some cardholders using the Mogo Card for fun money are even saving on bank fees. By moving their debit card purchases to your Mogo Card (no monthly or transaction fees), many have been able to reduce their monthly bank account fees.

Of course, the best part of using your Mogo Card for fun money is that it’s prepaid, so you can’t spend more than you load.

WIth a traditional credit card, the fun can easily get thousands of dollars out of control. With the Mogo Card there’s no risk of interest charges, NSF fees, overdraft fees or over balance fees.

He’re’s how you get started:

Plus, nothing screams fun money like one of our 30+ designs - choose one here.

The post Grab life by the fun money appeared first on Mogo Blog.

The Mogo Card Artist Series

This spring, we’re thrilled to release the Mogo Card Artist Series with the first cards by world renowned artist, Mike Joyce. Joyce is best known for his graphic design work in the music and entertainment industry. He’s designed album covers for musicians like Iggy Pop, Katy Perry, Aretha Franklin and more. His latest creation is Swissted – a personal project recently turned into a 200-page book. 

In Swissted: Vintage Rock Posters Remixed and Reimagined (Quirk Books, $28) Joyce redesigns show flyers for legendary punk, new wave and indie rock concerts in international typographic style. Every single one of these shows actually happened and each design is set in lowercase berthold akzidenz-grotesk – not helvetica, as noted on his website. I’m partial to his design for Iggy Pop with the Ramones at the Palladium in 1977. But the Dead Kennedys in DC in ’85 poster is really great, too. 

Contest

Have a look for yourself at Swissted.com and post a comment below with the name of your favourite poster. We’ll select five random winners to receive a copy of Joyce’s new book. The draw will take place May 1st, 2013.

Q+A with Mike Joyce

In the interview below Joyce talks to us about the Swissted project, doing what he loves and collaborating with us on the Mogo Card Artist Series (being released this spring!).

Mogo: How did you get started as a designer?

Joyce: I was always into art and design for as long as I could remember. When I was a young boy I would constantly be drawing and painting. And even though I had no idea what graphic design was back then, I was really inspired by iconic things around me like the Mobil Pegasus, the Michelin Man, and the IBM logo. My friends and I were into skateboarding in the mid-to-late ‘80s, and even though I loved skating, I was actually more into sanding my board down and painting my own original graphics on it. I would also design records, posters, and t-shirts for some of the local bands around town—even tattoos. So I always knew I would do something in the visual arts for a living and when the time came to go to college I went to art school at the School of Art and Design at Alfred University. My instructor there was a man named Fred Troller, and Fred was a brilliant Swiss graphic designer who helped popularize Swiss modernism in the U.S. Back in the ‘60s and 70s. Fred was a huge inspiration to me. After graduation in 1994, I moved to New York City and have been a working graphic designer ever since.

Mogo: Your new book is ‘Swissted: Vintage Rock Posters Remixed and Reimagined.’ Where did you get the idea for the project?

Joyce: Basically punk rock and typography are my two favourite things. I grew up completely inspired by punk, new wave, and indie-rock and would later find that same inspiration in Swiss graphic design—more specifically the International Typographic Style. I always liked that these two movements seemed at odds with one another in that punk has an anti-establishment ethos and Swiss modernism is very structured. And at the same time there’s a common thread between the two—the Swiss modernists purged extraneous decoration to create clear communication, while punk rock took on self-indulgent rock and roll and stripped it to its core. So I thought it would be an interesting study to combine the two and see what happens. I really like how both art forms contrast and complement each other.

Mogo: You’ve designed hundreds of Swissted posters. Which are your favourites?

Joyce: It’s always tough for me to single out just a few because there are a lot of elements throughout each poster that I like, but if I had to choose based on the design, I guess I’d pick the poster I did for the British punk band 999. I really like the illusion of movement that the multiple overlays create and how it forges one unfocused nine out of three. And the three hulking numbers give the poster a lot of presence. I also think it’s a good example of what you can do with the limitations of black and white. And then there are others that I love for their incredible lineups like The Runaways and Suicide opening up for the Ramones at the Palladium in 1978, or the Minutemen and Descendents opening up for Black Flag at the Cuckoo’s Nest back in ‘81—three of my all-time favourite bands under the same roof of a legendary punk rock venue.

Mogo: What appeals to you about Swiss modernism?

Joyce: It’s funny — I have a bunch of Swiss posters hanging in my apartment from the greats like Josef Muller-Brockmann, Armin Hofmann, and Emil Ruder and I could stare at these things forever where that might bore the hell out of someone else. I think it’s how minimal yet effective they are. They somehow achieve perfect communication through abstraction. It’s kind of the opposite of how things are done today.

Mogo: What inspired the Mogo Card designs you created for mogo.ca?

Joyce: I love that Mogo seeks out designers and artists to create original work for their cards and that they see the value in design for their product. So right off the bat I was inspired to do something that wouldn’t normally be seen on a Visa card. I thought it would be interesting to do something in the vein of modern art—abstract, geometric, and minimal—very similar to what I was doing with Swissted. But in this case, modern design would be carried in your wallet and I really like that idea.

Mogo: Any words for the aspiring designers out there?

Joyce: Yeah, I would just say do what you love. If you’re working on projects that aren’t creatively fulfilling, then come up with your own personal projects to fill that void. Or seek out clients, studios, agencies and people who are doing the kind of work that you want to be doing. Designers tend to get typecast in this industry so I always say it’s best to be pigeonholed into something you love and are proud of.

–

Love the Swissted posters as much as we do? Leave us a comment below with the name of your favourite poster and we’ll select five random winners to receive a copy of Swissted: Vintage Rock Posters Remixed and Reimagined by Mike Joyce. Winners will be chosen May 1, 2013.

The post Artist Series: Q+A with Mike Joyce, Graphic Designer and Creator of Swissted appeared first on Mogo Blog.

Our CEO David Feller is featured over on Huffington Post Canada today talking about the huge opportunity we have to change the consumer finance game for the better. It’s up to startups to bring new solutions — solutions that will benefit consumers and not the big banks. Head on over to Huffington Post to read his full commentary.

The post In the News: Mogo Founder and CEO on Huffington Post Canada appeared first on Mogo Blog.

The Mogo prepaid Visa is a super easy way to save money – you get all the convenience and security of a regular Visa, but it’s easy to control your spending because you load it up with your own money before you use it. No credit, interest, or snowballing debt.

How super is that?

Enter the Super Saver iPad contest to learn more and be first in line to get your free card!

The post Make yourself super & win an iPad! appeared first on Mogo Blog.

The new Help Centre lets you search or browse by category to find what you’re looking for, and it should help you get the answers you’re looking for much faster – best of all, it’s available 24/7.

Of course, there will always be questions about your account that can only be answered by one of our Care Centre team members, so you can still reach us at 1.800.980.Mogo(6646) or apply@mogo.ca. We love to hear from you.

Let us know what you think of our new Help Centre in the comments! Or, share with us on Facebook or Twitter.

The post Get answers with the new Mogo Online Help Centre appeared first on Mogo Blog.

For the 3rd year in a row, a particularly fierce group of Mogo team members (brought together under the name “Mogo My Balls”) will be playing in a charity dodgeball tournament.

The Tournament Goal: To raise $10,000 for Imagine1Day – a charity dedicated to providing education for children in Ethiopia. 100% of the tournament profits will help Imagine1Day to build a well and provide Ethiopian schoolchildren with clean drinking water.

The first year, we took the title. Last year, Lululemon knocked us out in the finals. This year, we’re hungrier than ever for that trophy.

If you love Dodgeball, Ben Stiller, or are looking for a great way to make a difference (and get a tax receipt!), click here to help Mogo and Imagine1Day reach their goal (just select “Mogo My Balls”):
http://donate.imagine1day.org/Department.aspx?DeptID=98&

Every little dollar counts!

The post You say Dodgeball, we say… Mogo My Balls? appeared first on Mogo Blog.

Earlier this month we listed Drake as one of this year’s hottest acts – so now’s your chance to get in on the action (and get a free trip to the home of the stars)!

So what’s included in a VIP trip? Well, we’ll take care of…

• Round-trip flights for two to Los Angeles, California
• 2-nights’ accommodation
• Premium tix to Drake’s Club Paradise Tour performance on March 5th, 2012
• $500 spending cash

Update: Congrats to our VIP winner Shaun-Louis Caluste – enjoy your trip!

The post CONTEST: See DRAKE live in L.A.! appeared first on Mogo Blog.

The winner of our Cookies from Cupid contest will choose the lucky person they want to receive a basket of 3 dozen assorted cookies (including a heart-shaped one) from cookiegrams.com. And, if you choose yourself, we won’t judge you – we’d do the same.

Click here to enter Cookies from Cupid on Facebook

What’s the best knock-it-out-of-the-park V-day gift you’ve ever given?

The post CONTEST: Let us send Cookies from Cupid to your sweetheart! appeared first on Mogo Blog.

Turns out they had a blast on their trip down to Florida, and they even shared some pictures from their adventure! Here’s a bit of what they had to say:

“We would like to send our utmost thanks for the opportunity to meet Winter the dolphin at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. The entire process, from planning, to execution to even the enjoyment, far exceeded our expectations….The Aquarium staff and volunteers are truly amazing people with what they accomplish. They give 100% to the Rescue, Rehab and Release of the animals. Thank you so much!”

Would you love to win a trip like this? How about gift cards or other fun stuff?

Follow us on Facebook to be the first to hear when we’re giving away another great prize!

What prizes/trips/adventures would you love to win? Tell us in the comments!

The post The Ouellets take on Florida & meet Winter the dolphin! appeared first on Mogo Blog.

As you had (previously) seen on our homepage, we showed a pretty-similar-to-a-Star-Wars-character on a much-needed break. Well, the people at Lucasfilm noticed what we were up to and (really nicely) asked us to take it down.

We were happy to do so and were glad that our playful homepage got some important eyeballs on it.

Check out the letter below, and keep you eyes peeled for new – and even more creative – work on our homepage.

• I’m sure working on the ‘antipiracy’ team would be a cool job to tell kids about, until they actually found out what you did

The post Sorry, George. Lucasfilm sends us a letter, and Mogo listens appeared first on Mogo Blog.