Stress reduction. Imagine if his car broke down. What could be a major financial crisis for many would be a drop in the bucket for him. He could fix it and move

Stress reduction. Imagine if his car broke down. What could be a major financial crisis for many would be a drop in the bucket for him. He could fix it and move on with his life. Having more things leads to more potential points of failure and less means to repair things in the case of multiple failure. It's a balance for everyone but I suspect that possessions were less important to him than security/simplicity.