I have a somewhat similar lifestyle despite being unprivileged (I am black and from one of the poorest countries in the World). I think it's just a way of life that one builds over time. I know plenty of people here who worry too much about things like latest clothes, furnitures, owning a house and other commodities which clutter their life and make them spend more money than they can possibly make. I have always tried to live only on the minimum, I started my programming carrier without even owning a computer and now I make a pretty decent living (even by western standards). I would have never done it if I accumulated sh*t. I think things would be so much better around the World (in the developing as well as the developed World) if people just removed the clutter.