Learning to Code Questions

[NASAHireMe]

My New Year's resolutions for 2013, 2014, and 2015 were to learn to code. I've had a rough going the past three years. I'm reasonably proficient in C++ and HTML (altho I don't really consider HTML a true 'coding' language), and basic in JavaScript.

What should I do next? Limitations: I'm not going to pay more than $300, so a physical class like General Assembly is out (also, I don't have a car).

Online lessons are great for theory, but more than anything, I need projects. Simple ones (like a basic game), then harder ones, then even harder ones. And I need them to be solved and open and preferably ANNOTATED WITH COMMENTS so that I can check my own progress when I reach a stumbling block. I've found that having the source code is useless if it's not annotated so that a beginner can understand it. Otherwise it's just as useful as Shakespeare in Yiddish.

I know that languages are tailored to the task. I guess if I had to stipulate an end objective, it'd be:

1) having the ability to generate scripts to automate stuff, do some basic data crunching, etc. Example: script that scans Twitter API and pulls out all tweets with certain words.

2) make a website tool. Maybe even for KSP. Like if I could replicate AlexMoon's trajectory optimizer, complete with graph and all, and have it hosted on a website, I'd be extremely satisfied.

So, what should I do? Suggestions for languages, projects, resources, books, etc. Should I keep going w/JavaScript and add JQuery (the logical step, and one that is fairly easy to do)? Or should I switch to Python (easy to learn, intuitive, variety of uses)?

[pxi]

I'm in a similar boat, I've spent the past 20 or so years learning bits of various languages, starting with ZX Spectrum BASIC and currently sitting at relatively proficient with PHP.

I know that I want to learn some form of C, but haven't been able to decide between C, C++ or C#. Frankly, everyone I ask gives me a different answer.

The one bit of advice I've seen come up again and again is to keep learning different languages - each has it's own mindset, and will teach you to think about things in a slightly different way. Beyond that, the only thing I can suggest is to just dip your toe into anything that looks interesting, you'll probably figure out fairly quickly if it clicks with you, and definitely have a goal in mind, otherwise you really won't get much further than the 'hello world' stage.

I look forward to reading other opinions on the subject.