Genealogy on a Budget

Looking into your family's past can get expensive, but there are several ways to research without costing anything but time.

1. Check with your local library - many of them offer genealogy classes.
2. Talk to family members. I asked some of my older family members to tell me about their childhood and wrote that down along with any information they could give me about their ancestors.
3. Sign up for a 14 day free trial with Ancestry.Com (make sure you cancel it before your credit card is charged.) Note: some libraries offer free research on Ancestry. While you have access, copy as many documents as you can find especially copies of church registries for birth, marriage and death and any census records.
4. Family Search is a free site run by the Seventh Day Adventist/Mormon church and is free to use. The only problem with this is people can remove or change entries on your family tree which can be frustrating. 
5. Wikitree is another free site
6. Keep a record of documents. I have set up a spreadsheet for each branch of the family in Excel showing the name and columns for Birth, Death Marriage and Census dates. I note when I find a certificate or documentation so that I can quickly see if it's something I already have or need to do further research. 
7. Note sources (see #6). If a name seems similar it may not be the same person. Make sure you double check with census records and other documentation.
8. Look for a local Family History Center (usually at Seventh Day Adventist Churches). You can access many of their records located in Salt Lake City and someone is available to offer advice.

Hop on over to Joy of Genealogy for more information and guidance.

Have fun - you never know what you may find.

Genealogy

For years I've been collecting certificates and information about ancestors, but it wasn't until recently I started putting it all together. I'm fortunate that on both my mother's and father's side of the family I have cousins who have done extensive research and I have a lot of information from them, but it can become an expensive hobby.

Start by asking relatives for information and ask for any birth, death, marriage certificates they might have. A few years ago, I asked some of my older relatives if they would write one or two pages about their childhood and about family which gave me a look into their lives at the time (and a few scandals).

There are also several places online where you can access information without paying (Wikitree is a good one). Apart from several aunts, I am the first one in my family to move to another country so all my ancestors lived in Scotland or England and my research is a little different from those who may have traveled to the U.S. by boat.

Keep a notebook and make a list of information/dates you are missing.


Once you have as much information as you can gather, sign up for the 14 day free trial on Ancestry.Com. If you start inputting information you will get tips that will help you. Also, many members have copies of census pages which you can download/copy without having to pay an additional fee.

Genealogy Programs:
I have found Family Historian a good program to store data and isn't overly expensive, but the charts aren't that great to print and frame.

Also consider a scrapbook to house your memories from relatives and certificates/census pages. At least if you ever lose access to your data you will have it in print.

Have fun and enjoy getting to know some of your long lost cousins. I found someone in a country on the other side of the world who has connections with my family just by doing a Google search for a relative with an unusual name.