<prompt> Human: Situation: 30 m just graduating from graduate school and getting married. Soon-to-be wife will be entering school in an online program and will be working part-time at whatever she can find.I have two initial job offers to consider.The first: I got one week ago. 48k offer with profit sharing that has averaged between 20 and 40 percent of the base salary. Retirement is SEPA IRA at 15 of salary. Health insurance is for employee only. Moving expenses will be covered at 1000. The location is not my favorite, but I could definitely live there. Cost of living is cheap.The second: I got today. 55k offer with unspecified bonus opportunity on the phone the guy who made the offer suggested between 5 and 10k. Retirement is 401K matched up to 3. Health insurance is employment at 90, employee plus dependents at 70. Moving expenses will be covered at 1500. Cost of living is more expensive, especially cost of housing but not extreme. The location is ideal for both my soon-to-wifes and Is hobbies and recreation.Income tax for both states are identical. Property taxes are higher with second offer.I think I am top candidate for both jobs, though my preference is for the second. How do I go about negotiating for higher starting salary? How should I consider profit-sharingbonuses in my calculations? Last question: I will be looking to purchase a house shortly after moving. Ill be leaving school with just about 11k in student loan debt. No other debt to speak of. Ive got 100k in savings roughly 30k in bonds, 30k in Roth IRA, 40K in a few vanguard accounts, planning on dropping 5k more into the Roth out of this 40k. I figure that leaves me with up to 60k for a down payment, but without leaving much room for a safety net. About how much house should I be looking to buy?  <response>: I think this is too dependent on preference for us to really give valuable input. I like the sound of offer 2, mostly because you describe it in a more positive light. I think you definitely should take a job that gives you the life you want - and it sounds like youd like the life in city 2 despite the somewhat higher costs. So go for that.If you have the offer from them, just give them a counter-offer. They wont be offended. Based on the job responsibilities and location, I think will need X. See what they say. They might say, We cant offer more than Y. And you can decide about that. If they cant offer you more money, see if you can negotiate additional perks like vacation days or flexible schedules. 