Close enough experience from each other mate. I used faucet a lot at the time when I was very novice in the forum and Bitcoin in general. I don't regret wasting my time on it back then. For ponzi, I remember avoiding them, I was very careful in any project to invest on it and always checked Bitcointalk before I join. Nevertheless I wasted few funds on some projects that turned scam. Otherwise, I didn't use doubler or unrealistic services because it looked very suspicious.
Glad to hear your experience and found similarities with mine