Ok so the past few days my engine has been making an intermittent grinding noise, so I took it to my mechanic, who told me that it is something to do with my A/C compressor. He showed me it, and there are metal shavings around the belt. I asked if that was why I had no air conditioning, and he decided to test the system. He put in some refrigerant, and discovered that it'* leaking out as fast as it'* going in. It'* the condenser that is bad there

So my question is: what should I do? Should I have them replaced? I pay for my repairs, and not my parents, so my money is kinda tight. What type of price would I be looking at?

I can't speak for the leak, but the grinding noise is a easy fix. Read this write up. https://www.gmforum.com/mechanical-134/adjust-ac-clutch-plate-278951/

Forgive me fory lack of terms, but would that explain why my mechanic said that the thing the belt is attached to would wobble when the engine is running?

The pulley on the AC compressor should not be wobbling, If there'* a pulley doing that it needs to be replaced ASAP. If that pulley fails the belt will come off. That belt spins your water pump. Any chance you can get a video of what is wobbling?

I'll try. My mechanic mentioned that it could cause the pump to faill. I'll go out now

I couldnt see anything wobbling, and my camera wasn't working. I'll take it to my other mechanic and see what they say. It does bother me with he grinding though.

The grinding wont hurt nothing.

I had this problem when I got my car. Got a compressor from a yard for $75. Not all that hard to put on, just takes time. Can be done with a few simple tools. I have not replaced my condenser on this car but I have on others and it is not too hard to do. I think I got a used one for under $75. If you do the work yourself you can save some $$$. Should only cost you $60 or so to have is vacuumed and recharged after that.

My mechanic said in order to replace the condenser, the radiator must come out, which will take time which = $$$.
Is this the case? can it be replaced without removing the radiator?

I believe that is part of the radiator. So ya, it would need to come out