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

I have been out of work for 12 weeks and feel pressure to accept less. Thank you in advance. I also do not want to sell myself short. Does giving a range hurt?

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 settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.