Salary expectations: how do you answer? - any advice?

A recruiter asked for my salary expectations on a first call as I look for work as a bookkeeper. It has been weighing on me all week. I do not want to price myself out.

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

Check several sources for pay in Boston, then pick a range where the low end is one you can live with.