Steve - why I said "proper education" is because the training acadamies in South Africa are more about making money, than actually training people, and sending them in a good direction, if you know what mean?

If I had control over my own training budget, I would invest R15 000 ($2036.66) a Year, as its a lot more expensive here to attend these types of courses, of get hold of the material.

To give you an example, taking the MCITP (DBA) Course, sets you back roughly R25 000 ($3394.43) and then each exam will cost another R1200 ($162.93) - which is relatively expensive.

But I feel a buget shouldnt stop anyone from learning or training themselves for that matter?

There are alot, and I do mean Alot of free material available, and finding a mentor, makes it eaven better.