@madscientistx13 @himalayanhasher Thank you both for the advice. Yesterday, after doing some research on Google, I read similar things to what you guys are saying. So I decided to go and talk to an aquaintance of mine (pun not intended) in a while, who works with computer hardware as his day-job. Maybe he, together with the links you guys provided, can help me out with picking the best gear for mining.
I don't wanna spend a fortune at first, but just want to get started in a profitable way. Is it, for instance, possible to start off with an investment of say 500 dollars of hardware and make it worth my while, when taking electricity costs and (possible) mining fees into account? In what order of magnitude should I be thinking when it comes to the period that it will take to earn back the initial investment? And what are the do's and don'ts? Which kind of coins should be my main focus, and from which currency's should I stay away as far as possible?
I don't expect you to spoon feed me, but could you perhaps give me a little nudge in the right direction? Your help is, as always, very much appreciated :-)