re: How much should I spend on rent?

I have always heard that the rule of thumb for rent is no more than 20% of annual income. With that in mind, Look at some of the places on the northern part of McKinney ave. Not the newest places, but most are under $1000 for a 1 bedroom. You can also easily be under $1000 in The Village, which is a little further north from downtown, but is very convenient to the Dart rail, which is a 10 minute ride into downtown. My sister rides that to work every day in downtown. Also, cut the cable cord unless you are a serious tv junky and get one of the internet tv services (Sling, PS Vue, etc).