Welcome to rootschat Jillps!

If you look at the top of the rootschat page you will see "Welcome, Forum, Help, etc" ... Click on "Forum", and the first thing on the list is "Beginners". Here you will find lots of hints and tips.
At this point do not part with any money. There are a lot of free resources online, some better than others depending on where your family are from. You can also get free trials with some of the subscription sites which would be wise to do before you pay up.
At Pat advised, write down as much as you know about your family. Always keep any reference numbers and details of where you found each piece of information (as many of us didn't at the beginning

) and it can help later on in your research.
How much knowledge do you already have about your ancestors? For example, do you know:
your grandparents or great grandparents?
dates of their birth or marriage?
If your research is in the UK this is a good simple free site that we all use:
http://www.freebmd.org.uk/You may find some of your ancestors there.
Alternatively, if you would like a little help to get started, if you give us some names and dates (as long as the person is no longer living), we will try to help. Where are you located and where is your research? (not too much detail is required - eg. country and county will be enough).
One thing which throws a lot of beginners, is spellings of surnames. You need to be flexible, as in the past spellings were not so important. There are often numerous different spellings for some surnames, and even in the same document. So if your ancestor was 'Frederick Arthur Brown', do not dismiss 'Fredk Arther Browne'.

First names and middle names can sometimes be swapped around too - something to keep in mind. And complete misspellings happen a lot, so you may wish to search by first names if you can't find your ancestor in the census for example.
You also need to double check all of your findings against as much documentary evidence that you can find. There can be numerous people born around the same time in the same place, with the same names, so you need to ensure that you are following the correct Fred Brown for example. Your Fred may be a shoemaker, and the other Fred may be a farmer, so you would use the occupation to find the correct Fred.
If your research is in the UK, when you get back to family living in 1911 and earlier, the censuses, taken every 10 years, give a snapshot of the family and are a good way to trace siblings and earlier generations.
It sounds a bit overwhelming at first, but you will soon get the hang of it. And please just ask here on rootschat for help or confirmation.
Family history is a very addictive hobby and rootschat is the best place to hang out if you have a passion for it.