Do all roads lead to one pay site?

[JillMD]

I hope this is allowed. I'm just at a frustration point. I'm a casual family-mapper. By that I mean I've been searching for my father and mother's family trees off and on for about 8 or more years.  I get stumped, so I quit for awhile and then come back months later and find something new and exciting. I've met cousins and 2nd cousins I never knew existed, thanks to it all.  But my frustration has reached the boiling point - everything I once was able to find for myself now seems to be hidden on a pay site.  I used to go straight to the US Social Security death site and get all sorts of info - names and dates of great uncles, etc...now I can't. Findagrave - I've just spent the better part of an hour trying to find a grave and all I get are links to a pay site. Want to search for a marriage license...nope...I can't seem to find much that isnt....linked to a pay site. Seriously, most of this stuff is public information, some of it I searched and found (and foolishly made myself bookmarks that no longer work, rather than printing out reams of paper) and  now want to return to, only to find, I can't. 
So now I've got a great-aunt who I can find up to the 1920 census and bam! she's vanished. No grave, no marriage license, no obit, - I'm hoping that she's with my 3 great uncles who seem to have vanished, too.
The one thing I've liked about doing this myself, as well as doing it myself, is that I am certain all of my research was valid. I'm not bogged down by other searchers who think they may be related because they have a grandfather named Bob who was married to a Sally in some other country than my Bob, who was married to an Ann, not a Sally and the time difference is 35 years. *sigh*     
Okay, so this is a bit of a rant. But I do want some guidance.  Can someone to tell me how to get to the information I used to be able to get and not have to rely on a pay site?

[Greensleeves]

Oh how I agree with you.  So many of the English parish records which used to be online and freely available  have now disappeared.  When I google them, I am invariably  taken to a generic site which then invites me to pay for something which was once free.  Sadly a lot of organisations have woken up to the fact that there's gold in them there records.

[aghadowey]

No, not all records are held on pay sites. Many are free and easy to find.

Social Security Death Index- free (along with MANY other resources) on Family Search-
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1202535

U.S. census records- see also Family Search

Find A Grave- again free-
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi

Lots of freely available information can be found by using various combinations of words in a search engine like Google. Sometimes you can even glean more information even when a result for a pay site comes up (Newspapers.com is the first example that springs to mind).

I understand wanting to verify details yourself but if you are stuck trying to find a resource then just ask and we'll do our best to help you by pointing you in the right direction.

[JillMD]

Thanks - FamilySearch is one of my favorite sites and I've found a wealth of basic information there. I must admit, though, that the search engine on FamilySearch can be a little limiting. But years ago, I went straight to the SSDI site and got a wealth of info. It's how I was able to start my search, by being able to identify all of my mother's aunts and uncles and their dates of death. I've started to play with LostCousins, but so far, it's just "play".

Find A Grave - great when it's there, but the frustration lies in the fact that there are advert sites showing birth/death/marriage results for that particular name linked to pay sites.  I can't figure out where to get them on my own. I've watched a coworker go to a pay site, punch in her name and a few particulars and bam - she's got a ton of relatives that match her names, and she's happy, even though she can't verify a single one of these relatives.  I dont want to have to weed through the chaff (especially with a common last name like Robinson) to find my family when I already feel like I've got a good solid foundation to build on.

Everyone's been super helpful here - I've had some great assists when I was at wits end, and maybe this is just me blowing off some steam after a particularly frustrating night, when I've found out that my grandmother was previously married but  no one can read her last name and searches have been unproductive. 
 

[sugarbakers]

... some of it I searched and found (and foolishly made myself bookmarks that no longer work, rather than printing out reams of paper) and  now want to return to, only to find, I can't.

I take screenshots rather than bookmarking or printing ... they stay on my computer, and only I can lose them 

[KGarrad]

Does your local library have free access to Ancestry Library Edition?
Mine does - and I can get 2 hours computer access every day, free!

Can be very useful

I also take a USB stick, and download any screenshots onto that.
Then I have the pages I want at home.

[Ray T]

I suspect that searching with google will be more likely to take you to pay-to-view sites and the free ones may be further down the list.

One tip with the Ancestry library edition is that, rather than downloading to a USB stick, its possible to email yourself a copy of what you find.

[Erato]

"everything I once was able to find for myself now seems to be hidden on a pay site"

I'd say just the opposite is true for US records  -  there is more available online for free than there used to be.  This is mostly because FamilySearch has greatly expanded its list of data sets and continues to do so.  New records are added to FamilySearch almost every week.  Find-A-Grave adds new records, too, and you don't have to go through any pay site to see them.  Newspapers are frustrating, but there are more available for free than there used to be.  Even when a link leads you to a pay site, you can sometimes glean a bit of information that will help you locate what you're looking for on a free site.

[JillMD]

... some of it I searched and found (and foolishly made myself bookmarks that no longer work, rather than printing out reams of paper) and  now want to return to, only to find, I can't.

I take screenshots rather than bookmarking or printing ... they stay on my computer, and only I can lose them 

This is a wonderful idea! I'm going to start doing this!