Do not let the same thing happen to you before you know the importance of having a hardware wallet, I have always known that hardware wallet is the safest but I ignored it, thinking I can't afford it, and I could, but I don't want to leave my accumulation of Bitcoin behind and spend hundreds of dollars on a hardware wallet, few open source hardware wallet are not even up to hundreds of dollars.
I was reading your post to know exactly what happened that lead to you losing that amount you mentioned but you didn't mention it and I don't believe it was just because you were using a software wallet that's the reason why you got scammed. Irrespective of the type of wallet that you're using, if you're careless with your seed phrase or private key, you can still get scammed and besides we have some software wallets that has be operating for years with good reputation that can be used for hodling and you won't get any complaints. Hardware wallets are the most recommended and there are reasons for that but you can also used wallets like electrum on an air gapped device and still have a smoothly hodling experience.
Let's no make it seems like.just having a hardware wallets solves everything because it doesn't, you still need to be extremely carefully so you don't expose your private key to scammed because if you do that irrespective of the wallet you're using, you'll lose your coins. Safety is very important when investing in Bitcoin, the safety of your investments should be your top priorities and you should employ different security measurements to make sure your investment are secured.
If you can accumulate Bitcoin every week or months, brothers and sisters you can afford a hardware wallet, I know you have a goal, to reach 0.3 BTC but mind you, making sure you hold the 0.3BTC securely is the most important thing, don't work hard for scammers to reap your reward, safety first.
Affording a hardware wallets isn't the problem for some people's but how to get the wallets delivered to their location is the problem for some people especially those not staying in US or European countries that shipping to their location won't be that smooth. I won't be comfortable if my hardware wallets has to go through different third parties before it gets to me even though it hasn't been opened so using a software wallet like electrum on an air gapped device is still a safer option for me.