Trouble shifting into second gear

Hi, I have a 2002 ford focus zx3, mileage about 82000. For the past couple of months i've been having a hard time shifting into 2nd gear, only. If I would shift into it normally it grinds the gears. But i've found out that if I ease into the gear and wait for the rpms to go down to about 1000x the gears won't grind, at least all the time. The clutch is stock still and every other gear is perfectly fine. I don't have much money so taking it into the mechanic to try and find out what the problem is isn't really an option for me right now. I'm just wondering if someone can help me so I can try and fix it myself. Any thoughts are welcomed. Thanks.