"As frugal as this"? $600/month on rent? It's $100 more than I was spending back in Leicester on a two-bedroom flat. And six times the price of a 1-bedroom in Athens.
If you want runway, try not living in California for a while. Even in the US you can find far cheaper than Palo Alto...
This is shocking? California (and New York) are some of the most expensive places to live in the world. The US is a big country, and many great places here are but a small fraction of the cost to live (Pittsburgh, Houston, Cleveland, etc...).
I can get a huge apartment in Pittsburgh for the same amount in rent as it costs to park my car here in SF.
Apparently it's shocking enough that people would choose to pay $600 to live in a closet rather than spend $500 of it moving a couple hundred kilometers away and have a lower rent and more than a closet...
If you want runway, try not living in California for a while. Even in the US you can find far cheaper than Palo Alto...