Pooled mining works with spare resources. I have a 6990 (about $400 on ebay) running phoenix 2 on win 7 with aggression at 3 and barely notice it running all day while I am at work. My fan is at 30percent right now and I am getting about .07bc/day. Currently that is about $3/day . I just cashed in my btc from the last year for about $700. Although most were earned while difficulty were lower, this was only a part time rig.
What do you think the best way to get bitcoins is?
Is it mining solo for a year or joining a pool?
Or is it doing random surveys that steal your info?
EDIT: Without using any money generated not by bitcoins