I'm going to be adversarial and say that no one needs to spend $10k in books and $20k in training to learn programming or tech-related skills. There is plenty of material on the internet to get you rolling without a dime invested.
If you own a laptop and can use your schools internet - start learning.
And stop spending your money. Go freeze your credit card in a block of ice or something.
And I'm going to agree with you - if you're learning programming, there's no reason to spend $10-20k. All you really need is a good computer, some relatively inexpensive software, and a few subscriptions to online services that will save you time and headaches. Beyond that, all you need is free time, a project to work on, and a willingness to invest the effort.
I spent that much because I was learning and doing much more than programming, and even then, some of my spending was inefficient due to lack of good guides and less useful online material at the time. I bought a ton of things that weren't that useful in the end. Even with the "waste," it's still the best investment I've ever made.
I think it's entirely possible to be too frugal when it comes to learning. If you can take a course that costs $1-2k, and it directly teaches you things that help you make 5-10x more money on a recurring basis, that's a bargain.
If you own a laptop and can use your schools internet - start learning.
And stop spending your money. Go freeze your credit card in a block of ice or something.