Expenses of a fresh grad NOW and THEN

During a family gathering recently, my cousin was teased mercilessly by his siblings on joining the workforce soon. Being the oldest in his family, it’s certainly an event of some importance. We all got into the fray and ribbed him on his expected expenses and managed to extract a mini list.

I can’t help but compare a fresh graduate’s expenses today compared to say, 10 years ago.

Fresh grad list NOW:
* Room rental preferable condo
* Laundry & ironing bill
* Petrol and car maintenance bills
* Hand phone bill
* Internet bill
* Occasional lifestyle hangout i.e. Coffee Bean, Starbucks, Dome, etc
* Cinema (RM9-10 per movie)
* Food

Fresh grad list THEN:
* Room rental (shared basis)
* Public transport fare
* Food (usually chap fan)
* Hangout i.e. mamak
* Cinema (RM5-6 per movie)


As you can see, it’s a much shorter list THEN compared to NOW. Laundry and ironing were both DIY then. I had no handphone bills. I used to call from the public phone. Public transport was usually by bus. Only on very rare occasions would I use the taxi. I had no internet bills then because I didn’t even own a computer nor do I have a fixed line.

I remember my first salary was RM1,600 then. Market rate for fresh grads now is about RM2,000. Looking at the difference in terms of more items on the expense list plus an estimated CAGR of 4% inflation over time (very conservative no.), I wonder how fresh grads today survive on their salary with such expenses. I remember a few older colleagues complained about topping up their children’s expenses especially those who just started working.

Are employers paying too little or are fresh grads asking too much to live up to a certain lifestyle? Or should fresh grads now get more due to increasing prices of products and lifestyle changes?