I have just read your post and sympathise, it brought back similar feelings I had as an up and coming wannabe professional pilot.
I must say there is some absolutely sound advice from Genghis the Engineer.
One thing, on a positive note is your age. At 22 you still have a number of years to work through your mission and achieve your goals. I worked as a professional engineer from the age of 22 to the age of 27. The money I had earned I invested in my flying training to achieve a career of a professional pilot. I guess in a nutshell, my point is that with your skills in engineering you have the potential to utilise these to generate cash in that industry to use for your training, however, it will take time.
Your comments about being around aircraft, airports and aviation in general obviously lets us all know that aviation is in your blood and makes you feel a certain way. I and many others that read these forums share those emotions, which is one of the reasons a career in aviation is for you.
Keep focused mate, be positive and realistic and I am sure your dreams and goals will unfold.
I wish you all the very best, go for it.