Could you talk to the instructor about a scholarship?

The group setting sounds beneficial, I have not done it that way before. I did an hour a week for a year with a therapist @ $120/hr. (I had more money then-insurance reimbursed 20% not much) But having the teacher and other students to talk to sounds awesome. And you could meet like-minded individuals too.

If not a possibility, you could always get guided meditations on audio from the library. I've done some of those that were fabulous.