The Year Ahead – January 4

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

January 4 – Spent too much on holiday gifts? Evaluate your 2024 genealogy budget. Consider how to get more out of free resources, including trials at subscription websites.

Remember that Journal I talked about yesterday. This is a great place to list your genealogy subscription websites. When do they expire, how much do they cost. I started purchasing myself gift subscriptions for Ancestry during the Black Friday Sale in 2017. I have gotten myself one every year since. Saving 50% off the price of a yearly World subscription is great. I might even update myself next year to the All Access Plus to include Newspapers.com. 

My advice on any subscription service, genealogy or otherwise, you might want to turn off automatic renewals, especially for those yearly subscriptions. I have subscribed to other websites, and this allows me to review if I am using the website to justify the expensive. HINT: most websites allow you to access the site through the end of paid subscription, even if you turn off the automatic renewals. Some even will send you a discount email if you don’t renew automatically. 

Also, free sites such as FamilySearch has lots of information. Don’t forget about public libraries and their Ancestry library subscription along with other’s they might offer to patrons. Bring a flash drive to save your finds to your computer. If you have a laptop, bring along your laptop so you can look at your tree and what you might want to research. 

Remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy!