today on the ancestral findings podcast are you a beginning genealogist be sure you don't waste
your money on these eight common things that often turn into money pits for newcomers to the Hobby
new genealogists often make the mistake of spending money on things they really don't
need you can do perfectly good professional quality research without spending a fortune
if you are just starting out in genealogy make sure you're spending your genealogy money on
things that can really make a difference for your research and not these eight things that
are a total waste of your research funds one professional genealogical researchers
many beginning genealogists think they need a certified professional to get them started this
is rarely necessary if you know even the tiniest bit about your family history you can begin the
search on your own professional genealogists are best used when you've hit a genealogy brick wall
that you can't seem to break through on your own two trips to ancestral locations while you should
definitely make these trips eventually in your research to see where your ancestors lived and
get an idea of how they lived you don't need to go there to find the most basic records on your
ancestors when you're beginning the vast majority of what you need to start can be found online the
records you can find on trips are more ephemeral in nature and are good for adding to the story
not starting it three subscriptions to every genealogical website most genealogical websites
that charge a subscription fee also offer free trial periods it is possible and actually likely
that not every subscription site will be right for you instead of spending your money on a
subscription upfront you should use the free trial periods to determine the subscriptions you really
need for vital records that can be found online before you spend a lot of money sending away for
vital records make sure they're not already posted online more and more of them are available for
free through subscription sites or free genealogy sites check first before sending money to state
or county vital records Department's five joining every genealogical society it's tempting to join
every genealogical society you hear about when you're beginning but you should take the time
to research the societies to see what they have to offer and if they can offer anything useful
to you in particular before spending the money to join them six the wrong genealogical software
many beginning genealogists grab the first box of genealogical software that they see and try
to use that to record their research some programs are more user friendly than others while some may
have features you want that others don't always read the description of the software carefully
before buying it seven old family history books usually written in the late 1800s these books on
the history of your family lines can be quite expensive many of them are available for free
on Google Books check there before you buy because you may be able to read it for free eight postage
if you have family history questionnaires to send out to your older relatives you may think you'll
get a better response rate if you mail them since you may believe older relatives don't use or like
email the fact is many older people use email and it's much easier for them to use it to respond to
you than to put a letter in the mail if they have an email address use it and save money
have you ever considered donating your genealogical collection to a society on the next
episode of the ancestral findings podcast I'll give you three reasons why you should as well as
how to choose the best one for your research and heirlooms be sure to check out ancestral findings
calm there you can also download older podcast messages to hear again and your convenience
that's ancestral findings calm see you the next time here on the ancestral findings podcasts
you