How much should I be spending on rent?

Is your $1600 estimate post-tax or pre-tax? Most landlords are looking for your gross income (pre-tax) to be at least three times rent. If you're making $1600 per month pre-tax, you can only afford about $533 per month in rent. If that's your take home pay, you need to figure out what your gross monthly pay is before you can answer your own question. Your side hustles aren't really relevant here unless it's reliable, consistent income.

Easy calculation. Between 25% and 30% (uppermost limit) of your net monthly income.
Peace.

No more than $600 is ideal (about 1/3 your income), but sometimes that doesn't work out exactly. Sharing a 2 bedroom is usually cheaper. Get your income up if you want to live alone.

In my experience, college towns or somewhere near a college often has more affordable apartments. I've also used motels in my younger days---a monthly rate has been as low as $260 in Maryville, TN or in some parts of Missouri, and this includes Wi-Fi and utilities as well as cable TV. You can often add a small couch or fluton to make the room seem like a studio apartment.

One third of your income.

You cannot afford that 1 BR apartment. You need to be looking for a studio or efficiency apartment, or rent a room. These are also more likely to include more utilities, or all utilities. So you will save quite a bit there. Utilities on a 1 BR can run $200/month (if you skip cable TV, or go with the lowest bargain-price service). Once you hit $500/month on your income, you're in financial hot water very fast.

Sharing does not always save you money, and roommate problems (including deadbeat roommates) will leave you in deep financial doodoo.

Do NOT touch those savings to cover routine living expenses - rent, utilities, groceries & household expenses, transportation to work. That's really not very much in savings, so if you ever had a real emergency, you're not covered.

Is that $1600 gross or net. If net, no you cannot afford it without draining your savings...usual rule of thumb i sent should be no more than 1/3 your income - in your case about $500. Your utilities are going to be at least another $100 (more with cable and internet). Add in car insurance, food, etc. and you will probably be hitting your savings every month.

Look for a roommate to help split costs.

About $500 a month.

Find a way to make it cheaper. Live further out or rent a room or whatever. Until you want o (and can afford) to buy a place then keep the rent as low as possible,

Sorry it's not a percentage game. Location, convenience, demand,
Safety, etc etc. Better apartment cost more. The cheaper the apartment
The larger the amount a beggars, drifters, con artists, car thrives and
Robberies there will be. Cities and states have different rates. New York
And Los Angeles is way higher than anything in Tennessee or the mid west.
Find a not great but not crappy apartment some what convenient to where
You work and want to spend your leisure time. It is a compromise situation.

No more than 28% of your monthly income generally. One local apartment complex says just that. They flat out tell you that you will be declined if the rent would be more than that.

When buying a house, they sometimes let you go to the low 30% range.

One more thing, is your income 400 a week or 1600 a month? There is a difference. 400 a week=1733 a month on average.

You are looking at $448-485 a month. Maybe a little more at some places.

If you aren't driving then as little as half.

You should plan to spend around 30% of your take home pay on rent. $715 is nearly half of your income, so you may need to consider finding a roommate.

you seem to be confused, allow only up to 30% of your TAKE HOME pay. go to realtor.com and check rentals in the zipcode where you want to live.

You should be able to afford the $700 range easily but you will still have to spend carefully. Don't go out and get a brand new car and have to deal with expensive car payments on top of this. That is key.

1/4th of your income. Pre tax. 1/3 after tax. As for the extra work. Bank that & invest it. It is not looked on as income.

They say that it's supposed to be only 1/4 of your income, but I've always found it is closer to 1/3rd of what you make for the month.

You don't appear to make enough to live alone in the area where you are targeting. Housing (and utilities) should never be more than about 40% of your net income, and even that high is a problem for many so no more than about 30% is what is suggested. You would be what is called "House poor" even though that term is normally applied to buyers, not renters. This is why a lot of younger or lower income folks tend to share rental units an/or live in less "secure" areas.

I suppose if you do almost nothing in life that costs money, you could do it, if you want to call that living.

There are some things which could offset that rule a bit, such as living within walking (or public transport) distance of work and stores and thus not needing a car, which is itself a major expense for most people.

One third of your monthly income is the maximum rent you can afford, based on the income requirements landlords accept

Whatever your budget allows you to pay.