College classes can be very expensive. If you have friends that weld, and they are patient, have them sit down with you and teach you some basics you can practice on your own, and they may have some tricks of the trade too. For free or a few 6 packs, still cheaper than school. They also have books on Amazon.com, take the change out of your ash tray and coin tray at home, go to coinstar, get a gift card (they don't take any for a gift card to amazon.com) and buy a book. Should be around 10-20 bucks for a book, not too bad.