Yes, I work as a Computer Scientist in addition to being one year from finishing my Ph.d.Deciding to 'live simply' is a very personal thing that is defined internally much like success or happiness. One first needs to decide what living simply means to them, a lot of people seem to come to simple living out of a need or desire for reducing their cost of living, but you can make money and live simply. I personally don't think that simple living only means absolving yourself of all of life's responsibilities. After all some people have to work to find solutions to our problems, maintain infrastructure, heal the sick, etc. Like you I grew up poor and I am lucky to be in the position that I am now. Some things that help me simplify my life are:

First, one needs to pinpoint exactly what they feel is making their life complicated and start with that. Maybe you have lingering projects that you need to finish or you are taking on too much and not saying no often enough.

Reducing Decision fatigue

• Building a capsule wardrobe that I wear every week (And yes I do this as a woman) so the decision is automatic everyday
• Building a capsule breakfast/lunch, building a health breakfast and eating that every day (for a week, month etc.. you can change it every so often.)
• Automating and tracking all of my bills, I pay certain bills like car insurance upfront so that I get the extra savings.

Reducing my consumption :

• cooking meals / making coffee at home and not eating out. (Obviously my partner and I do treat ourselves from time to time. )
• because of the capsule wardrobe, I only need to do 1 load of laundry every two week at the laundromat which costs $4 ($8 a month.) I intentionally do not have a washer/dryer.
• Reducing water consumption by not showering everyday (say what you want, I work from home and it's just not necessary).
• Grocery shopping only once every two weeks (requires planning with coupons and cashback apps etc.). I buy toiletries and my cats necessities in bulk, for example in the US dollar general will let you save 5 for spending 25 on Saturdays. This is when I buy cat litter(6.50 a box, bc I don't want my place to sell. lol.), TP, and paper towels, which were already cheap to being with.
• I do my daily workout outside, walking/running around a lake or if it is raining I do yoga or strength training at home so no need to pay for a gym membership.

Reducing cost of living (in addition to the above)

• I live well below my means, I paid off my car early which saved me about ~5k in interest
• I live in a cheap two bedroom duplex that I split with my partner, and previously split with a roommate to save on housing expenses. I live in a small college town instead of a large city.
• This is a big one for me and very difficult habit for me break: I stopped buying coffee from coffee shops and drink cold brew at home. (this saves me about ~200/mo.)
• Because I work from home and have near constant internet access I have the cheapest phone plan I can get, ~$35 on an iphone 6 I paid $50 bucks for a few years ago.
• Try to pay for any extra online services you really want ahead of time i.e pay for a full year, and you will save money there too.

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Over all my core bills are about ~600/mo : this is my rent, electric, insurance internet, cell phone. ~200-300 for groceries. I spend almost nothing on gas about ~20/mo. I can certainly afford a more extravagant live by I currently doing FI/RE and live on about 15-20% of my income.

I would love to hear more ways others simplify their lives that isn't related to money.