I'm not sure where you live, but in my area you can rent a well maintained 3 bedroom home with a yard for $850-950 per month. 1 bedroom homes rent for closer to $550.
I'm in the south too actually, about 45 minutes outside Birmingham, AL
I've seen cheaper housing in Birmingham as well, but I don't know some of those areas nearly as well and couldn't vouch for how nice or safe they actually are outside of listing photos online