Hello! I actually just answered this question a few days ago about what I do professionally. I have a non-academic historian job and I strongly encourage kids like yourself to consider jobs in Public History.

I'd like to address some points you made:

I am currently attending community college with plans to transfer to graduate school to pursue a masters or PhD in history, which will cost me tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars here in the US.

This is not necessarily true in the slightest. Your Bachelor's yeah, you'll shell out lots of money. HOWEVER, I strongly recommend going to the best in-state school in your state for your BA when you are ready to transfer out of your community college. There's no reason to shell out tens of thousands of dollars for a degree like this when, honestly, where you get your BA is not nearly as important as where you get your MA or especially your PhD.

Second, once you are close to graduating, then start looking at Master's programs or PhD programs at strong research universities. This is incredibly important for two reasons. One, if you don't go to a top school (At least a top 200 school by US News and World Report for MA or a top 50 school for PhD) your chances of getting a good job in your field begins to shrink -- this is especially true for the PhD. We had an opening two years ago for a Chinese history professor position and had over 100 applications! Those who didn't attend a top 50 school (for PhD) were almost instantly cut from the start.

Second, research universities often times have scholarships for students! Almost all of my graduate school was paid for by my university (my first year I had my left over GI bill money to cover me, so I didn't need it). Research universities what their students to a make great project or thesis, so they reward students with funding. Second, I don't think there is a historian who works at a university in the USA who would tell you to get a PhD that was NOT funded by the university. PhDs are not only expensive in and of themselves, but they also usually require time to do travel and research and if they aren't paying for it, it's not worth it UNLESS you already have a great job and you need a PhD to advance there -- then it makes sense to spend the extra money. The history profession is too bloated with Academic historians right now to justify shelling out too much money.

History is my life, but I want to be able to support a family too.

You can absolutely do this, but begin asking important questions now. What would you want to do. Would you be willing to become an academic librarian or work in an archive or a historical research center? These are careers paths too.

I also want to mention one final thing. When you say 'history is my life', I can tell you are passionate, but please be aware that being a professional historian of any type isn't simply about reading and remembering facts. It's much more complicated. It's usually about conducting original research, making new discoveries, and being able to articulate it through powerful and persuasive language. How is your writing skills? How are your analytical skills and evaluating evidence? How are you at debates? These are all important skills you'll need to perfect.

Good luck! And please let me know if you have any other questions!

Did you check out the faq:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/theory#wiki_history_careers_and_education

Besides the FAQ suggested by /u/tzuridis, you may be interested in this recent discussion. Best wishes to you!

I have a masters in Byzantine history from King's and currently teach English in Greece? Learn languages while you study and you can take it anywhere.