I went to college and lived in dorms - and had to pay an increasing portion of my expenses until I was paying all of them. The result was working 2 jobs and attending school full time. When I graduated during the .com bust, I sent 300 resumes out and finally landed a job that paid me enough to live without 7 roommates. So, in my case, the trick was having at least 1 job that could pay my expenses.