In my undergaduate days (early 70s) I used the summer to make money as a roadie. Spent three months running sound for big and small small venue touring acts all over the south. Met lots of people in the business and made pretty good money as well as learning a ton of stuff that I still use. My College degrees didn’t make me much money but I have had a job running class room support ‘media’ for over 33 years at a local college. I taught for a while but the politics of Faculty status sucks and the money wasn’t that much better than just being staff. The moral is learn how to do something to make money while your getting that degree. Never lived back with the folks but now I am taking care of my father who is 92 and can’t cook a lick.
I hope you don’t mind my bragging, but I recently sealed a commodities deal and I have other clients backed up. At the moment, I am going to simply pay my way and enjoy the monthly income that comes from these deals. Then get some certifications and THEN my degree.