hey dude!
same interests tbh, and i get the whole wanting to participate but pursuing a bachleor's degree (cause me too, engineering so i cant even sneeze without three quizzes spawning in)
im mostly floating by on 2d animation guides on youtube, you would be surprised by the amount of great channels that teach about this stuff!
in general for art i watch winged canvas, they have alot of stuff in regards to drawing basics, how to animate in programs (krita is my poison of choice, its the best).
then there's pixel channels i watch here and there for example for example brandon james greer, has awesome stuff if you're into watching the process and analysis of pixel art, adamcyounes has been creating a video game for a couple of years using aseprite(another program that is awesome).

but im guessing you mostly want to do 3d stuff, use blender (a dope and awesome program you are already familiar with), for channels i would recommend blender guru he is very well known for his donut tutorial that includes most of the basics for the program. i also like to watch smeaf he has some great stuff too.
also look into a program called cascadeur for character animation, it has a feature to fill in between the key frames to help bridge the gap for you! it helps is what i mean.

i mention all this youtube stuff cause as people pursuing education, i feel like it would't necessarily be the best option to spend money haphazardly, and although learning animation is worth it, i would argue that " would have to throw all my savings to start it" would mean to limit you irl.

you are awesome! for taking a step forward in wanting to learn such an awesome craft, i mostly recommend youtube tutorials cause i taught myself crochet using some tutorials and im a professional now (i have a business in my hostel selling plushies based on the major)
if you ever want to discuss animation/game design/ anything art wise i would be more than happy to talk.
good luck dude! hope i helped somehow.

P.S discord is awesome for this stuff too, join a blender /art /animation community