Living Like No One Else

Our family is on the first few steps of a financial journey, and it isn't easy.
Minus our credit union card, we have cut up and destroyed our other credit cards.
We're behind on some bills and are attempting to get our payments caught up.
We're looking at thousands upon thousands of dollars of debt and knowing we will have to sacrifice fun, frivolous purchases, treats that we are accustomed to, in order to tackle this mountain we have to climb.
We know we will probably stumble, quite a few times, and will have to pick ourselves up, dust off, and start over again.
We know most of my income from teaching simply HAS to go onto debt, meaning the job that I took as a hobby is now, for the moment, somewhat of a necessity, which is somewhat heartbreaking, considering we should be comfortable on one income, and aren't, purely due to stupid choices.
But one of the things that is hardest for me of all? When well-meaning friends and family ask why we aren't shopping on whim, or eating out willy-nilly, or when they poke fun, or simply don't understand what we are trying to accomplish. Or when their words serve as that little voice that says, "Come on, spend the money you don't have anyway...what will this one time hurt?" They aren't trying to be mean, or harmful, or disrespectful, and I get that, but it's still hard. It's hard enough for me to maintain impulse control on my own, but sometimes, it's harder when you have...shall we say...encouragement from loved ones and friends to break your goals, or when you see the looks on their faces that make you know without a doubt that they think you are being weird, or foolish, or too cautious, or silly, or you're just not willing to have fun with them.
Financial guru Dave Ramsey talks about this a lot. He says basically that when people start making fun of you and discouraging you that it means you are likely starting to make the right decisions financially. He has a famous quote that says, "“If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.” It's on the bottom of every page of our edition of The Total Money Makeover. Basically, what he is saying is that, if you live below your means, and don't do what everyone else is doing now, if you live in such a way that people poke fun of your financial goals and your budgeting, and you're cutting expenses/living a very frugal and humble life, and doing it all now so you can improve your lives, get out of debt, and build wealth, then someday, you will be debt-free, beyond comfortable, and can truly live it up and live like no one else.
I need that to be my ever-constant mantra.