I started with the faucets but after three months I'm still sitting at 0.06 BTC - god knows how much time and effort I've put in to make a few cents.  Mining looks like the only way to go, which also means spending cash up front to get a decent rig.  There really seems to be no way to get BTC with a willingness to work hard - you actually need a computer to do the work for you ... seems a bit limiting way to earn money when there are myriad ways to earn fiat currency!