The Year Ahead – November 25

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.

November 25 – Trying to save money for the holidays? Compare the big genealogy subscription websites www.familytreemagazine.com/websites/genealogy-website-comparison.

I read in Facebook groups that some people get tired of getting all the same hints from their preferred website. Perhaps they do need to take a break and try out another website. I must admit, that I use Ancestry a lot. My back up site I use is Family Search which is free. When I say I use these websites, I use their record databases mainly. I do refer to other people’s tree, to see what record databases they have linked to facts to our common people. I might also use it to get a new prospective name, that I can try to research myself. However, this is getting off topic.

Like most genealogist, money is tight for our hobby. We need to be thrifty with our choices. Thus, research what is available on the sites. Keep your eye out for free weekends. If you do sign up for a free trial, make sure you read how you can cancel the free trial before charges are made against your account. I also recommend, you might want to only sign up for one at a time. Which means, whatever length of membership you chose, only have that one membership. Otherwise, you might fall back to your old habits and only use the one you always use, and not utilize the new membership fully.

Don’t forget, some libraries might have library editions to these sites and you might be able to see if they have the sources you want, or save money and use the library editions to save you money.

Finally, when creating new logins, please create an unique password for each site. I know it gets confusing trying to remember them all, but I have a password book that I write all my passwords in. I know they say don't write down your passwords, but seriously, we might have to. Just keep that book in a safe place.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!