Holy Crap..University is expensive!

Yup...am starting to look at my options here for Graduate Studies...Today I checked out the University of Toronto, and the University of British Columbia. My marks are good enough (they would've been tops tho if it wasn't for emotional fuckwit you know who) to get into the programs, but the cost....OMG!!!!I need to win the friggin lottery to go to school now...either that or work my ass off and a bunch of jobs for several years and put aside money for it. Well, I won't let it deter me...the way I see it, getting my Masters and then a PHD is the only route that I've got at present to ensure I can take care of my parents financially when the time comes. I worry...some friends, past and present have said I worry too much about all of that. It's obvious I can't rely on nabbing a guy to take care of me cause it always turns out the other way. I guess if I got one thing going for me at present, it's that I won't give up...no matter what. And I won't let anyone stop me. So, now the only thing I have to worry about is the expense. I mean...for an example...it'll cost me $19,000 for 1 year at the U of Toronto just to be taught! Never mind the books, and the expense of living somewhere, and making sure I have my basic creature comforts. I mean, I don't want to starve. The first year I was in college it was like that..I had to make $50 a month last for food. Yup...i was pretty skinny back then too. Of course, that was back in the mid 90's, and money stretched a bit further those days. I knew a girl once that lived on coffee for an entire semester. Just coffee. Crazy huh? How the heck do they expect us to learn on an empty stomach?I feel for all you Uni students out there right now...having to rely on the food banks. It blows. Or having to live with 5 people who drive you nuts just so you can afford a roof over your heads. I thought I could do courses online but the ones available are not relevant to my line of work. So, it would be a waste of my money. I could get a teachers certificate here, and be listed as a "supply teacher", but again, it's not really relevant, and besides, there's only 70 students in the High School here. Frig. So the chances of me being called in to sub would be sporadic at best. Not worth the time and effort in my books.
I've been pretty lucky tho here...managing to double my loan payments per month (hey..I don't have to pay rent!) so I can see my loans paid off in 2 years instead of 10. In a few months I should be able to triple it if I play my cards right. Thats my goal. For now. When I do get the chance to go for my Masters, I'll be able to pay everything up front, because, God willing, I'll have the money to do it. And I can look back on it all and say "There...I did all this from the sweat of my own brow." I don't want to have to work a menial job to go thru school again. I want to be where I rightfully should have been....honors. That's where I was but then (my fault) I let a guy come into my life who shouldn't have been there. I'm done with all that man. No more. Yup, I sound pretty harsh eh? oh well. I'm doing better on my own even if it's in the middle of nowhere right now. Anyhoo...another rant accomplished. Gotta love Blogs eh? Anyhoo....all you Bloggers who have attended College and/or University....here's a question for ya...what were some ways you made your dollars stretch? For me, it was washing all my clothes by hand in the early days, because a dollar to wash and a dollar to dry a load got expensive, especially if you had 5 loads or more a week. Let me know! Peace!