BS! Living debt free, other than perhaps your house, is the way I am "living the dream". And I am anything but filthy rich.
Get married before kids. Stay married.
That's me and my wife. Retired, completely debt-free with a decent retirement income and investments that we worked for, and scrimped and saved for. It's a great feeling.
Although, to tell you the truth, my idea of the "American Dream" is having the freedom to live your life in the way that best comports with your ideals ... within the strictures of the law and common decency, of course.