1. Nothing wrong with wanting to make money.
2. "Formal degree in CS" doesn't mean someone will be better than you. It might, it might not, depends on the job. Often it has no relation to actual job requirements.
A job skill that will serve you well no matter what you do: learning new things quickly. So instead of deep diving into one thing, maybe spend some time building a few small things with a bunch of interesting technologies. (Other comment about knowing basics is correct: knowing core technology is important prerequisite, do that first if you're not there yet).
Then you can tell employers "yes, I'm inexperienced, but look, I can learn fast, here's proof." You're pretty much never going to know the whole tech stack at a new job, so that matters a lot.
Another thing to focus on: learning how to build robust code (i.e. testing, both manual and automated). It's not exciting or flashy, but being able to say "and I can make sure my code actually works, and here's how" is worth a lot to smarter employers (though not all employers).
2. "Formal degree in CS" doesn't mean someone will be better than you. It might, it might not, depends on the job. Often it has no relation to actual job requirements.
A job skill that will serve you well no matter what you do: learning new things quickly. So instead of deep diving into one thing, maybe spend some time building a few small things with a bunch of interesting technologies. (Other comment about knowing basics is correct: knowing core technology is important prerequisite, do that first if you're not there yet).
Then you can tell employers "yes, I'm inexperienced, but look, I can learn fast, here's proof." You're pretty much never going to know the whole tech stack at a new job, so that matters a lot.
Another thing to focus on: learning how to build robust code (i.e. testing, both manual and automated). It's not exciting or flashy, but being able to say "and I can make sure my code actually works, and here's how" is worth a lot to smarter employers (though not all employers).