It's what I've been wanting to do professionally for a long time, and I work for a small mom and pop. It's something I'm unwilling to compromise on, because I believe if you work a job you're miserable in, just to make ends meet and keep paying rent, what are you really doing with your life? Just working in misery to maintain misery?

Have felt this many times. What works for me is to have additional forms of work/income that support my primary dream job (musician). By 'support' I mean ways of making enough addl income to be self-sufficient without draining my creativity. For me, that's copy editing, tutoring, house cleaning, and a few other odds and ends. It sounds like a lot, but really life is manageable because the work all supports the goal/dream.

That said, try looking at some of the apartment complexes on Beaverton Hillsdale- I know someone who was living in a fairly decent 1/1 for around $900 (this was two years ago).