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My quick & dirty "rule" is to limit your total borrowing to your anticipated first-year salary in your "safety" job. By "safety" job I mean the same as when we talk about "safety" colleges - that is the job you are pretty sure to get with an undergraduate degree in your field of study, not the dream job. I think a college grad with a liberal arts degree can reasonably expect $30K as a starting salary. The graduate school might make sense if it will qualify you for a higher paying position.
When your payments are due, arrange for automatic withdrawal from your checking account - and treat the payment amount as if it was never there. That is -- subtract that off the top of your budget. And as I noted above, make an extra payment or two at the beginning of your loan --that puts you "ahead" on the books and will prevent you getting charged any late fees if for some reason a payment later on isn't credited properly.
A reasonable amount of debt will not be a problem if you manage it well -- the problem that people typically run into is that they get in over their heads and can't make all their payments.
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I was just about to ask, "so, what's a 'safe' level of undergrad debt?" Then I got to the end of the thread and saw your post.
I was thinking along those lines (entry level salary), but didn't know if it was too arbitrary.