This won't be popular but I think it's wrong for parents to not plan for and pay for their kids' college, if they have the means to of course. I see so many people take 3 vacations per year, drive nice cars, build new houses, etc that don't save money for their kids' college. You have 18 years to save money and prepare for college on their behalf, and they have maybe 3-4 years to do that - why is it their responsibility? Isn't it crazy to expect a kid to put money away for their own college working minimum wage, part-time jobs, while their parents make decent money in a full time career? I just think priorities are way out of whack among parents - I will drive a beater car for the rest of my life if it means I can send my kids to college without debt, but most people don't look at it that way.
$250/month for 18 years at 8% is $120,000 saved for college.
Some parts of this are the ever growing trends of people thinking they need to do EVERYTHING and that's doubled up by those that post their wonderful lives on social media.