I just discovered Bitcoins a short while ago, and I would like to able to mine a little too.
I am not thinking about farms, just to upgrade my PC and mine, and try to earn back the money from my investment and maybe get a little profit. Is this realistic right now, or truly I am too late to start mining?
No I don't think you are late. However, at this point you have to have good rig design + cheap electricity.
If your electricity is higher than 10c/kwh then definitely don't even bother mining. You'll probably want a rate around 6-7c/kwh.
You'll also have to do some research into which setup is able to convert electricity into hashes at a high efficiency. Also factoring in cost of equipment.
this is true if the current price of BTC holds ($15-16) but if the price moves up in response to scarcity resulting from higher difficulty, then BTC mining will be potentially as profitable as it has been up until now. personally i believe btc are way undervalued. but, if i am right, then it might be simpler at this time just to speculate by buying up btc.