<p>I am 21 years old and am going back to school for my degree. I took one year of Computer Engineering and due to several factors, could not pursue that major. My parents were hit with an unexpected life event which completely changed our financial situation around. Although everything worked out, the money they had saved for my education is gone. We have spent the last 2 years paying off debts. My father has always told me he is willing to educate me no matter what. In the fall I am starting school at $19,000 a year. This was my 2nd choice school to begin with and I am very excited and happy to be going. However we are still in a financial mess and I am trying to look for any chance of money I can get. </p>
<p>My father is self employed and works as a general contractor. He makes no more then $20,000 a year. My mother works as a secretary and makes $27,000 a year. I worked at a computer store as a service technician for the last two years. I am in debt because of the financial problem that affected the family in the past and it took me about a month to find a job once I left school. I have a $199/ month car payment along with 4 credit cards of various interest rates and a personal loan plus a cell phone. My father has already told me he cannot pay for these expenses during school. I have no problems getting a job during school, but I don’t want to have more pressure to pay bills then I will already have, because I won’t be working full time. My family already applied for financial aide and we have worked out with the school all the aide we can receive. We have $3700 in grants and my father has a $10,000 plus loan and I have a $3000 stafford loan. I am still despretely trying to find a way to reduce my monthly expenses or eliminate them. I know theres lots of advertisements online and TV that advertise how to get grants to pay off your debt if you’re going back to school. Are there any real grants you can get to do this or are all of these scams? Will talking to the credit card companies do any good? Also, my girlfriend is paying for her college education because her grandmother was an immigrant from Mexico. Because of this she is elligible to receive a $10,000 grant from the government to pay for her college education. Although nothing of the sort applies to me, I would like to find out if I am elligible for any grants like this. Is there a way to find these? Time is running out and I am feeling more and more pressure so any help would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>