Yeah, I did CAP for a little while too...I enjoyed it, but I know it's not for everyone, plus you'd be kinda screwing your mom over if you did that. My advice to you is apply to every job as a waiter or pizza driver you can. You'd be making a good 10 to 20 dollars an hour. Give half of that to your mom, since she seems to be doing fine with that amount now, and save the rest for yourself. That's not enough though. You have to invest that money well. There is an account online that you can put your money into and get above a 5% interest rate on it...not a certificate of deposit, but an actual account, that you can pull your money out of within 3 days if you have to. My uncle has his money in one. I'll have to figure out the site if you are interested. Plus, it's good to save most of the money that's for yourself in that account. I only take 20% out of that to use as spending money until my next paycheck (which isn't much, but if I can do it, so can you). Trust me, you live in America, it may take a while, but your dreams are definitely attainable...Good luck