1) Fresno is awesome. I love it here.

2) New Bern, NC was the cheapest place in the world. $350 a month for my own one bedroom apartment in a good area. Try finding that most places. It's near the coast of NC, which is good (beaches) and bad (hurricanes). But yeah, insanely cheap. With utilities I was still under $500 a month total for my own place. I wouldn't want to live there forever, but for a first year FO, it was great. Just glad I'm back in Fresno now .