How to live a simple life?

[Gauracandra]

I was thinking that there are certain things that could be done to accomodate simple living. The first of which is the need to take care of shelter. It seems to me rent or mortgage expenses are the main expenditure a household has. If there was a way to create inexpensive, affordable housing, this would be a good way to assist in simple living. With that in mind I thought something like Jimmy Carter's Habitat for Humanity might be a good model. If devotees got together and helped one another build inexpensive housing this would be a good start towards simple living. Of course the problem arises that simple living really is in the mind. For a person who doesn't truly want it, he/she will simply now have extra cash to spend on other activities besides rent. But I think that is one possibility. Another part though would be the need to purchase property outside of cities where the land is relatively cheaper. The main cost of housing is the underlying land, not the physical structure.