I think we got really lucky. We live in western Washington and found a 2-story house with 3 bedrooms, living room & den, 2 bathrooms, utilitity room and 2 dining areas, about 1600-1800 sq ft, that sits on 1/4 acre (with room for a big garden) for $900 a month, not including utilities. It's currently $300 below market value (or it was when we first rented it) but the owners were moving to Florida and wanted to be sure to find someone they really liked. They are the best landlords in the world, a couple around our age, who are really laid back and nice, send us gift cards to restaurants for Christmas & for doing some light plumbing work once. We really like the house but it's a bit big for us actually. Once in a while we think about having someone come to live with us to pool resources, cause we definitely have enough room.. but haven't found someone that clicks well enough yet.
I pay £450/month (erm.. $600?) for a room in a shared house, including bills. Shortly moving to a new place where because of my dodgy dealing and awesome skills I'll be getting it for £200/month with bills At my current rate of pay that'd mean I only needed to work 3-4 days a month to pay the rent
I live with my dad.... and I pay nothing. my mom rents a 2 bedroom townhouse (a really nice one though) for $1800 a month.... not including anything. ridiculous, but she still does it, because she's dumb.
As long as you're safe, I'd take the $50 one. I'm going from Canada to England on Thursday for that reason. I saved and now I live where I don't want to live. But it's worth it because England = this Thursday!
I'm in a small old mining town in missouri. we pay 450 for a 2 bedroom, 1 bath, house with an office and huge laundry room. its alright, but as soon as we're out of this lease, we are going to find something else. but housing in these towns (were a clusterfuck of cities) are really cheap.