I'd look into getting a roommate, renting a house with a friend, all the stuff most people have to do if they can't afford the market rate where they live for a place alone.

Nowadays, people that own houses often have two people working to be able to do that; I lived in Washington, D.C. in my 20's-mid-30's and that city had "rent control" (when I moved out of my apartment in around 1984 for which was paying around $350/month, the rent immediately went up to $800/month for the "new" tenant -- so, it was an excellent neighborhood/place to live but the rent control the City insisted on when I moved there in 1973 kept the amount they could jack it up each year lower).

Like shortandcute recommends, check your area for something that might work for you. Maybe you can work as a "house sitter" for doctors/others going away or overseas for an extended period and get a reduction on rent as payment, that sort of thing. Check with banks/realtors in your area and see if there are any houses that have been foreclosed but they'd rather have someone living there instead of being empty since it won't sell right now. Get creative and do a little calling around, let people know your background and integrity and how you'd be right for a job like that. I know my next door neighbor owns several rental properties and some of his renters are having trouble paying; you might be a "better" renter than some situations. Check with social workers at senior centers; maybe there's a senior that can't care for themselves anymore, had had an illness or died, etc. but their house they've owned for a zillion years won't sell and their family would love a reliable person to live there for awhile at a low rent (the house is probably paid off since they've lived there so long; so they don't need to make money from the rent); I know when my husband and his ex-wife divorced 1988, she got the house and their mortgage was only $325 or so a month because they'd lived there so long and it was nearly paid off. Go to a few "divorce" groups and see if there's a woman with a house but in the same earnings situation as you are that would share with you.