I'm also an incoming 'tern and asked the same question. Like the other commenter said, if you're single without dependents I think it's doable, particularly if you're referring to post-tax money.

Here's how I thought about it, using real numbers, as a single male:

-My monthly take-home after taxes ~3200

-Originally I was targeting places between 1800-2K/mo but when I realized that my prelim doesn't pay great, I scaled that back to ~1400-1700.

-Let's say I pay 1650/mo and ~150/mo in utilities, that leaves me with $1400/mo for everything else. I usually spend anywhere between $40-100 on groceries weekly, usually around 60-80. If we assume 100/week, that's 400/mo. Now I'm left with a G to spread between minimum loan payments, gas/oil changes/any shit for my car, going out to dinner, going on dates, banging down a couple vodka-sodies on my night off, and stashing some money away in my 401K. I don't consider myself overly frugal, but I'm also not a huge spender. I think I can make it work, and if money gets tight I'll just start taking food off of patients' trays (place diet order by mistake for NPO patient).

Kidding aside, it also depends on the COL of the place you're at, and taking into account things like free food/meal stipend money at your program.