How do I make enough money for college/life/travel/survival?

Just hang in there, things can only get better when your at the bottom. =)

Ps, try making your Ramen a different way. ; )

Well you’ve got the internets at your assistance.

Spend some time brainstorming ideas, take up web design, create a website.
You can also cough sell your self cough

Oh my. I have been exactly where you are. My only piece of advice is this. When you turn 24 you don’t have to put your parents info on your Financial Aid form. I waited to start school until I was 24. The government paid most of it. I’m 30 and have a B.S. and my loans are paid off. So eventually you can get in school.

I would just try to find a better job and relax and enjoy being young. And read a lot of books.

johnpowell: where is this “better job” you speak of? all I can ever find is service jobs.
I’ve begun to hate humanity

Find a dirty job, one that majority would never even attempt.

i.e. ......

Another thing is school is substantially cheaper out here. (I went to school in Portland)

Lake Michigan College is 103$ per credit. At Portland Community College I was paying about 40. I went to Portland with a high school diploma and led a nice life while I went to school. But I didn’t drive.

Send me a PM if you need info on Portland.

Holy crap.. Tuition is now 70$ per credit at PCC. That is insane. It was 32$ when I started in 2001.

the community college in my hometown is $90pch… which I thought was cheap.

One thing that often takes up a lot of your monthly income is having to pay the mortgage on your home. My husband and I have been working for years to pay it off and it felt like we still had forever to go. A couple years ago I was told about a money merge account system that our local bank provided and they worked with us to set up our payment program so that we would be able to pay off our house in about a third of the time. The money merge account system reduces the principal of your mortgage which in turn helps to reduce the interest on your loan. It’s pretty incredible knowing that our home will be paid off soon! Good luck!!

The first trick is finding out what your special skills are. Everyone has unique special skills that only they can do.

Usually the way you find them is try different jobs, read books, try to learn everything you can, every way you can, without mistreating yourself of course.

By doing this you will discover your unique skills, then when you find enough of them you put them together in a useful way.

You will be fulfilled because it is fun to do thing that only you can do, but further refine it as you go. It will be so unique that you will be the only one doing it….so it will be lucrative.

I know it seems overly simple but each little step can take years or even decades, but if you really want to accomplish your dreams, you will keep moving forward, and it will be worth it.