What a derail this has turned out to be. We went from jobs paying in bitcoins, to shiny tanks and Somalia. 

Thank you for the input, the risk is what I'll need to focus on at the moment. I still need to research the best possible component configuration for the price.

Obviously I would invest in a new rig, but I want to make sure I'll make that money back or this will be a lost cause. I know it wouldn't come immediately, I calculated that if I ran a new rig with a new card it would mine back essentially it's worth in 6 months.

Just discovered the bitcoin, and mining two days ago. Ever since I've been researching, and calculating, and calculating, and calculating. I'm trying to actually crunch numbers until I find out, without a doubt, that this mining business is profitable. I currently have an NVIDIA 9800GTX+, not running a CUDA miner, just normal phoenix. Only getting 35mhash/s It's quite sad. But this is just a test to see if I'll actually get my predicted numbers.

At my rate, selling the bitcoin at it's current value... I predicted I'd make $10 USD a month with my current setup. No way I'd ever possibly break even, ever. The electric bill is obviously much higher than $10 with this setup.

So I came here to get some technical expertise, along with some wise advice. Should I jump in? I would probably be able to afford 1 rig, with 1 card at the moment and increase from there once I actually see some income. Will I see any income? Or will I need 3 rigs with 4 cards each before this game is profitable.

This isn't a half bad idea. VIVA LA BITCOIN!