The first real paycheck comes with the first real decisions: attack the loans or start investing, how much apartment you can actually afford, and why starting at 23 beats starting at 30 by more than you think.
Never compare nominal salaries. Convert both to purchasing power with the cost of living comparison calculator (official BEA price parities), then run the after-tax value with the raise worth calculator if one offer is a raise over your current pay. A $70K offer in Kansas can out-buy an $88K offer in California.
The common guideline is 30% of gross income, but 25% buys breathing room. On $55K that is $1,145–1,375/month. Convert to hourly with the salary-to-hourly calculator to feel it differently: at $26/hour, that apartment costs ~53 hours of your month.
Grab any employer 401(k) match first — it is an instant 100% return. After that, compare your loan APR against ~7% expected market returns: above 7% APR pay the loans, below 4% invest, between them split the difference. Both calculators on this page quantify your exact case.
It is the highest-leverage money of your life. $200/month from 23 to 33 at 7%, then never adding another dollar, grows to roughly $380K by 60. Starting the same habit at 33 ends near $190K. The compound interest calculator shows the decade you cannot buy back.