Saving up is hard...

go to a relatively poor but happy foreign country as a backpacker. stay and live their way of life for a while. you would see things differently. Nepal, Bhutan, Laos, Cambodia, or even countryside Thailand...

Don't try. Just change the track and buy only thing you really need. Also, plan to have useful things that you will need more time to save enough to buy.

Yeah go to a pound shop and buy a money tin put in all your change when you can. Don't open until it's full you will be surprised how much you have saved and how quick the tin fills up. You then catch the bug buying another tin to slip the odd note in. You don't miss it.

It definitely opens up your mind, but still. Once you come back to your original country there is no sense of that life anymore. All the peers around you have completely changed - and in my opinion the community you are around defines how you behave somewhat.

Its a matter of controlling yourself sir. If you wanted to, you can always do it. Just try to understand that the world is round.