<prompt> Human: My wife and are both 30 years old. I recently got a new job offer in Seattle for 116k base 23k sign on plus about 3k vesting RSU in the first year and more RSU vesting sign on renewal in subsequent years. In all, I should be bringing home 145,000 in the first year. Im moving with my wife, and were looking for a place that is not too small and not too run down. We found a great spot outside the city for 3200 month. Ive never paid so much for rent in my life, but Ive also never made so much and havent lived in a high cost of living area. Its difficult for me to figure out exactly what my budget will be since I dont know how much utilities, dining, entertainment and so forth will be in a new city with a generally higher cost of living. Ive also never managed so much money before. My wife will not have a job I owe her for school and will be supporting her for this transition. We have no debts and about 75k in savings mixed into various IRAs 401k and savingschecking, and 750 credit.Ive read that 30 is an outdated metric for rent to income ratio. 3200 is about 26 of 145k but closer to 30 after tax. It seems kind of outrageous to pay so much for rent but were not ready to buy in an unfamiliar city.Will I be paying too much for rent? Or Is this normal for cities like Seattle?  <response>: Thats certainly doable, as youve mentioned its hard to know with unknown expenses but housing tends to be what makes high COL areas, high COL. The differences in eating out and entertainment tend to be fairly marginal in comparison. Housing is the easiest way to save money and the easiest way to spend money. Your home also has a fairly significant impact on your day to day happiness so its very much the personal part of personal finance. Surely 3200 isnt the cheapest place in Seattle so look at the 2k places and evaluate if what youre getting at 3200 is worth it to you. 