Mining is getting more and more profitable, especially BTC mining. According to cmc, all other mining options are still bringing you around 90 bucks per months by investing 1k USD and in my opinion it is not worth it yet.
A lot of my friends tell me the same thing, but for now I dont trust mining, if the rate collapses, all mining goes into minus, in which case isnt it easier to just buy cryptocurrency on the sly and this can give more than investment in mining now.
maybe your friends never try to create such an accurate calculation about the profitability of mining. The profitability can be achieved when you are using asic mining right now.
Remember about the profit margin that comes from bitcoin mining is not so much. If you are a small miner and buy should be the best choice for you. ROI becomes a problem in mining.