Negotiating pay when I have been out of work (update)

I have been out of work for 9 weeks and feel pressure to accept less. I also do not want to sell myself short. What did you say?

I gave a range based on local postings and said I was flexible depending on the whole package. They did not push back.

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it last year, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.