Salary expectations: how do you answer? - what worked for you?

I have been out of work for 21 weeks and feel pressure to accept less. I have read a lot of threads here and could not find my exact situation. I also do not want to sell myself short.

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

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.