Sarah Williamslooks at some of the ways that family historians can make their pennies stretch further
Like all good hobbies, researching your family history can come with a few costs. Although there’s plenty you can do for free, once you get stuck into your research, you will find there are things you need to pay for, from birth, marriage and death records to genealogy subscription websites. Although we cover plenty of free websites in this magazine, many of the records that family historians want to access are tucked behind a paywall.
Since accessing these pay-to-view records is probably the main cost for most people researching their family tree, this article looks at how you can do that for less, whether it’s extending your subscriptions by building in some tactical pauses or tracking down the very best offers available.
We’ve also included some tips on how to get the most out of some of the amazing free resources out there. It may feel hard to let go of your subscription to your favourite family history website, even for a short while, but there are some fantastic free options out there that you may be missing out on by just focusing on the records you need to pay for.
So, read on and get some thrifty inspiration!
Register An Account With As Many Of The Main Subscription Sites As Possible
It may be too pricey to have an active subscription with all the paid-for genealogy websites, but it’s worth registering for a free, basic account. This won’t give you access to most of the records (although there are free records to be had for registered users on Findmypast findmypast.co.uk and Ancestry
ancestry.co.uk), but it will enable you to use their different search facilities. Also, if you upload your family tree, both Findmypast and Ancestry will flag up records that you may be able to find for free elsewhere – or you could wait to see if the site runs a free weekend.
If you are registered but not subscribing to a site, you will also be sent special offers if you accept marketing emails from them.
Look Out For Special Offers
As well as signing up to receive special offers from the firms themselves, you can also look around for discount codes. Members of family history Facebook groups, such as Ancestry UK (facebook. com/groups/AncestryUK) and our own Who Do You Think You Are? Magazinegroup (facebook.
com/groups/wdytyareadergroup), sometimes share discount codes they have come across.
Make The Most Of Any Available
