For reference I live in Australia.

I've had 2 passions/dreams in my life. The first one being to study astrophysics and the other to become a pilot. I've done the second one and so now I'm looking to get into astrophysics like I've always wanted to, even before aviation became a passion of mine. In high school I did all the math subjects and physics. I didn't get any good scores to be honest but I did pass just above average (mainly in maths, not so much physics).

My only problem at the moment is money. Becoming a pilot is not cheap and so I don't have the opportunity to do an astrophysics course right now due to me reaching the limit on my student loans. But i'm looking to see if I can get myself ahead now so that when I do eventually enrol in a course I will have a solid foundation of the knowledge to be able to understand and get through the course relatively well.

I've read up on some forums and people are saying to get "University physics with modern physics" by Young and Freedman, and "An introduction to modern astrophysics" by Carroll and Ostlie. I'm prepared to get these book and study it in my own time. Are there any other recommendations as well as novels (not sure what to call them) like A Brief History of Time and Brief Answers to the Big Questions, also math related ones.

If anyone thinks what I'm planning on doing is a stupid idea please let me know. I would really like to self study as much as possible as that's how I've learned best so far, but of course I respect and know how difficult astrophysics will be.