Its ALWAYS better to buy and hold than to mine...
Wonder where people get this soapbox. If it were always better, why would anyone mine?
I can't speak for others, but I started mining because it seemed "fun", not because it seemed like some sort of painful scheme that would make me rich. So I learned on the go, reading the forums, playing with hardware first hand, reading tons of stuff with lots of time. You can shortcut but it will ultimately hurt you.