If I can start my crypto journey from the scratch, all over again or I have all the money I had years ago I won't repeat same mistake, the first thing that I found very hard to strongly believe back then is...
Spending some money on Cold storage, a Trezor maybe, I use to underestimate this, even when I have heard it multiple times before, yet I choose the easy way out, without even the proper research.
If I choose to spend that money that was hard for me to spend on a hardware wallet then I would have safe myself from some losses.
It's easier to find the definition of Bitcoin online at the time but it's a bit complex to know out of the box that there is something called cold wallet or custodial wallet, it was confusing to me, so I just visit google for answer and yes Legder and Trezor are always the first, instead I went on google play store for bitcoin wallet, I mean, why spend dollars on a hardware wallet when a software wallet can do the same?
This was how I found FreeWallet, I use this to store some Bitcoin, it was easier for me because it required only email login and password, I stumbled on some that ask me to write down recovery seed but it was stressful for me, stupid me, since Free wallet sync with my email I thought that's all that matters and I lost it all, can't log into my account anymore, as if Freewallet swapped my password and log in info.
Things are different now, in fact way better, still if you are new and you want to DCA into Bitcoin, kindly consider getting a Trezor wallet at least, don't keep Bitcoin worth $2000, $10,000 on a software wallet, even if its a open source software wallet I believe this amount is too much for a software wallet, having this much means you can afford a hardware wallet.
I don't take it as "stupidity" to look for the most urgent and accessible way to get your cryptocurrencies in check. I believe that myself included, we have a lot of people in this forum and beyond who's all for accessibility and software wallets could just do that for you. Trezor wallets and those keychain wallets as I call them are better alternatives sure, but for folks who deals with a measly couple hundred bucks every week or so, do you really have to spend $300 to $500 bucks for a more secure wallet service that you couldn't even connect to the internet?
Plus for me, you got yourself in that situation and I think it's a little unfair that you're blaming software wallets for your misfortune lol. You literally got yourself locked out by forgetting your seed phrase when most of these hot wallets would literally remind you 3 whole times to jot it down or have a way of storing them safely because they will not be responsible for retrieving your address should you forget about your money and you lock yourself out. It's a rookie mistake if I do say so myself and while I don't think you deserve to lose thousands of dollars for it, you definitely had it coming my friend.
Hot wallets are good no matter how you look at it. Just don't be belligerent with the way you use it and you should have a great time dealing and working with wallets like these.