kutsu my post is off topic, but I didn't want you to worry too much. I live in the UK and my mother spent 2 years telling me I'd never get anywhere without a degree.
I failed my first attempt, and quit after a week on my second. Three years later, Im leaving 3rd level tech support for a hardware giant to work for a major london finance house, supporting in-house software, where the big money is.
For both positions, I was interviewed by a technical person, and the impresion that I get, is that no one in the technical side of things gives a monkeys about degrees, just your abilities. If you can prove those, and the guy with 3 degrees can't, the job is yours.
Smitz