Dear Suzie, Perhaps what you need to do first is to decide which family line you are going to chase. If you are just starting out I would pick the name with the uncommon spelling or the one with the interesting story that you want to follow up. Or perhaps the line with the oldest living relative that you can talk to before these memories are lost. I would also look into getting yourself a database to put your information into. You can download free ones to get you started. Plan to be organised and stay organised! Look at the free websites first - except perhaps the BDM sites eg. Victoria that you will have to pay to search online. Check out your local library, practically all of them will have resources you can use freely such as BDM indexes and databases such as Ancestry. They may also offer help classes and speakers. If you want to spend money, purchase some certificates and buy good quality acid free photo albums for your heritage photos.. or consider joining AIGS, or similar depending on your state (in Victoria it is GSV). If you want to go for a surf - good starting points are Cora Num's website for genealogists (Aus) at http://ow.ly/HioI and Cyndis List at http://www.cyndislist.com/ Just my 2 cents worth, Every best wish with your family history search, Regards, Liz www.pidgeon.info -----Original Message----- From: Jeff and Suzie [mailto:mcdonaldje2@bigpond.com] Sent: Friday, 15 January 2010 4:42 PM To: genanz@rootsweb.com Subject: What to do first? Hello I'm after a bit of assistance, please. I've just started to trace our family tree, and are collating all the various names and dates I have. I notice there are many, many websites that you must pay for to use. Is there a current opinion on which one, if any, is the best to pay for? Ancestry.com seems to be alright but it's a hefty amount if it's all out there for free. I would appreciate any opinions. Thanks Suzie