I'm sure you must have listened about Sanyasa and sages which is the zenith of minimalism, not suitable for everyone. But because these are so deep rooted in Indian culture, I don't see average Indian spending more than what's necessary. The joint family system helps a lot in maintaining this. I see many many families around me that don't have cars or credit cards not because they can't have but they believe they don't need them. Or in any case they need them, they buy things often in sharing. For instance one of my neighbours recently bought a car but the payment for the car is done by 3 brothers. The amazing part in their purchase is that they would only need the car occassionally so they are renting it for local commute.