I actually just did this, been living in SF for a little over a month now. All of the advice in people's comments so far is spot on.

I ended up in the southern tip of the mission where Mission, Noe Valley and Bernal meet and love it. $800 a month in a nice 4 bed 2 bath, w/d in unit, new everything.

I had been watching the rentals/roommates space on Craigslist for 5-6 months while saving up to move. Unfortunately for both of us, we missed the bottom of the rental price market. They have definitely been trending up over the past few months as the tech scene is starting to get frothy again. So watch dates if you are reading articles on people moving here.

I stayed with 3 different hosts off of Airbnb.com for a little over 2 weeks while finding a place. I would book for 4-5 days. I lost two places to live at the last minute, and both hosts had other people booked so I had to find new Airbnb hosts last minute. BUT, it was super easy, Airbnb has a short notice/standby feature where they literally tell all of the hosts who want those alerts that someone needs a place fast. I had 6-7 host offer within an hour both times.

One interesting note on cost of rent that I just noticed...You very rarely have to turn the heat on and most places don't have AC. As opposed to the Midwest (I'm from Nebraska) where either one is cranked year round. This time of year in NE our electric bill would easily be $150+ a month (in a small two bedroom), and I've seen insane bills for heating with gas in the winter. So for me there is really $100-$200 a month that moved from HVAC costs to rent.

I cut my possessions in half before moving back home, and then again before moving out here. I boxed up all my stuff really good and left it at home. Flew out here with suitcases full of clothes, then had my 4-5 boxes shipped UPS once I found a place.

I sold my car. I've been extremely car dependent since I was 16. Adjusting to this change in transportation has been the hardest thing to adapt...but honestly it has been easier than I thought and not having a car is awesome. You said you come from the Midwest too, so I imagine you are car dependent has well so here are my quick tips to ditching it in SF.

- Sign up for the ZipCar program. $50 a year, $8-$12 per hour (gas and insurance included) cars on demand. I have never been more than 4 blocks from a ZipCar when I needed it for getting furniture off craigslist, big store run, etc. Good phone apps

- Get a Clipper Card (previously TransLink) and either load cash or passes. I signed up to Autoload a Fast-Pass every month. $60 for unlimited MUNI and BART every month, a little more than one tank of gas. And they work smooth.

- I use the built in Google maps on my iphone to plot a route and see what line I need. I then pop over to an app called Routesy that is better for getting a complete picture of the stops and ETAs for any MUNI or BART Line.

- Get a bike, I snagged an insanely awesome bike that was barely used and 3 months old with receipts off Craigslist for well under half price. Pro Tip: Google maps for bikes will plot you around the hills as much as possible.

As for food costs, SF expands the high end options but still has plenty that is affordable. There will be tons of places you can eat for $20, $30, $40+ a meal if you want, but at the same time you can find plenty of places to grab a bite for under $10. And the $10 meals here are a lot higher quality than in the midwest.

Feel free to drop me a line if you want to chat more or grab a coffee/drink when you get here. schaecher.michael gmail