"Dionne is somebody who chose life over financial death," Orman said. "She is somebody who set her goal on the fact that she wanted her child to go to college, she did not want to get in credit card debt, she wanted to do it the right way and no one was going to stop her. She is living the American dream."
In her 10th and most recent book, "The Money Class," Orman writes about the death of the "old" American dream, which was materialistic.
"It used to be more, bigger, best," she said. "Everybody in America started to define themselves by all these things they had around them. And all of a sudden it came tumbling down. So the old American dream has died, and that is a good thing."
A good thing, she said, because those values were false. Orman said a new American dream is now emerging, rooted in reality. Family and responsibility have replaced the want for the biggest house on the block.
"It's a dream where you actually get more pleasure out of saving than you do spending," Orman said. "It's a dream where you live below your means but within your needs. You are not spending every penny, you are not impressing people. You are living a life where you can sleep at night and you are actually happy."