I'd like to ask the users here about how you got started in bitcoins and how you acquire bitcoins.

So the two questions are:

1. When you started, did you MINE or did you BUY bitcons?

2. If you are a regular user of bitcoins currently, do you MINE or do you BUY bitcoins?


To start off the discussion, I can only answer question 1. I mined bitcoins when I started. Then I bought and sold bitcoins through an exchange.
I cannot answer question 2 because I'm no longer a regular user of bitcions.

EDIT: Let me clarify question #1. If you did some sort of service and got paid in bitcoin, you essentially bought it. Even if it was a faucet, you still needed to do something to get paid. That is, the bitcoins were not given to you without any conditions. Would you have done the service for free if they didn't pay you in bitcoins? For any service, doing tasks, or advertising for someone, you would normally get paid in fiat. If you wanted bitcoins instead, you would have to buy it through an exchange. So in essence, you skipped the exchange, and got bitcoins directly. In the end, you still bought it.