When I decided to start searching and doing research on my grandfather to work on my geneology, I found places that offered "free" people searches.  So I gave them a try.  Sure they found a lot of records, but once the search results came back, I actually had to make a decision.

In order to access the more detailed information, I would have to decide on if I wanted to pay for it or find ways around paying for it.  The bottom line was, did I want to spend my money or my time?

I decided at the time, that I didnt' want to pay for the detailed results but instead went on a hunt to see if I could get the information without paying for it. 

What were the results?  That I WAS able to find all the information at NO charge.  HOWEVER, the catch was that most of the information I wanted was in another state, and some states do not have internet access to public records.  Not only that, the places I was able to get to, sometimes had antequated systems that were manual!  Where I would have to look in a big book to see if I could find the information.

Fortunately, I had already scheduled a trip to the place where I needed to get the older records.  But had I not planned on that, it would have been cheaper to actually pay for the detailed information.

So what is my suggestion? There are a number of places that offer access to public records.  Make the decision if you want to spend the time or the money, because it will be one or the other.  Once you have decided, make sure you keep really good records, and try to get photo copies or online copies of everything so you can piece together the puzzle.

The other suggestion is to get an account with Ancestry.com.  It cost money, but was so worth it because it allowed me to do more research without having to make a costly trip.