Howdy!

My name is Classicalcliberal and I have a few questions about general personal finances. I apologize in advance is some of these are not proper for this subreddit.

Background: I am 24 years old, married, have a 4-year degree (BS in Economics) and I just received work authorization from my US residency application. I have no debts, my wife has $3000 in student debt. I am currently unemployed and she works part time.

Situation: It is very probable that I will receive a job offer in Houston for a Commercial Collector position. The proposed salary will most likely be 36k and I have been told that new hires make $8000 to $14,000 in commission.

Questions:

Question 1) I have never filed such a large income for my taxes (Last year I made 11k) so I am very excited. But at the same time I am scared that taxes and withholds will eat away a large shunk of that salary. Assuming I was paid $3000 monthly, how much will my net pay be? I tried using this calculator: http://www.adp.com/tools-and-resources/calculators-and-tools/payroll-calculators/salary-paycheck-calculator.aspx . I entered my Federal Filing Status as Married and my wife as 1 allowance and got the following:

Gross Pay:3000.00 Federal: 215.21 Fica: 186.00 Medicare: 43.50 State: 0.00 Net Pay: 2555.29

Is this an accurate number? It seems too high to me. I have little familiarity with the US tax system since my University did my taxes for me.

Question 2) Assuming that my Net Pay is $2500 I am not sure how much I should be spending in rent. I currently (parents pay for rent and bills atm) have a 2 bedroom unit (1 and 1/2 hrs away from Houston) that costs $600 monthly (has water and internet bills included), we spend $150 in utilities an $100 on our car in a monthly basis. Therefore most of our bills come down to about $850 a month (excluding food). Realistically speaking, if we move to Houston this number will have to come up to at least $1250. Is this too high of a number? Would it be a better idea to stay where I live now and commute 2 hrs to Houston daily?

Question 3) I want to pay for my wive's studies so she too has a 4 year degree. Under the net monthly income of $2500 is it possible to do this with out getting into more debt?

Question 4) Is the 36k commission offer a good one for a first year graduate? Are commission based jobs even legitimate in the US? I have lived a very sheltered life here in the US with my parents and am very afraid of falling for some type of scam job.

Question 5) I have held one job before in the US but have lost of volunteer experience, should I be looking for a higher salary that is not based on commissions/bonuses at all? I applied to at least 100 jobs and I am getting daily calls for interviews but most of them listed salaries that are much lower or simply refused a salary at all.

Question 6) Are commercial collectors a legit position? I have never heard of such position before.

I appreciate all the time and effort that some of you will put into your answers, I also apologize for any questions that are not appropriate for this subreddit. Additionally, to thank you all collectively, I will give gold to either the most up voted comment on the thread OR to the comment that I believe has the most objective merit to it.