Religions teach us material possessions and buying stuff is not that important, but I noticed many people I used to follow online had more money than they knew what to do with, which caused them to waste it on things that did not make them more happy in the long term, not even expensive cars or big houses.
I also noticed how it affected their values and personality, they would see the poor people without food as being worth less or look down upon them, but those people tend to be less arrogant and wasteful because they have fewer material possessions, they seem closer to the Earth and more grounded in that sense.
Actually meditating or reading a book I often grow more and learn more than trying to have a meaningless conversation about plastic collectables or stuffed animals, where as conversations about important topics such as religion and technology are seen as taboo by Materialists, but not by poor with some time to think.
I totally agree with your sentiments. It definitely seems like those without money are the ones that are aware of its true worth. Material things don't bring happiness and fulfillment. It's the relationships that we create with our fellow humans and the natural world around us. Desire itself is something that we need to actively fight against, because it tends to drag us down the path towards an empty consumerist lifestyle. We aren't put on this planet to trade our time for useless plastic!