We are half way through 2025 and it’s time to take a look at progress towards 2025 genealogy goals. We’re also heading into summer and hot days bring inside activities, so it’s a perfect time to take measure of New year’s plans for genealogy success.

First, this review isn’t so much a review of New Year’s genealogy resolutions as it is taking a deeper look at how we might attain success, both materially and educationally.

I don’t know about you, but my genealogy budget, while generous because I scrimp in other areas, is still limited. I try to stretch my dollars as far as I can.

Here are some suggestions for self evaluation and activity modification, so to speak.

1. Take inventory of supplies that you need to be successful. That might mean paper and printer ink for writing and publishing a family history or books and research materials that will further success.
2. If your budget is limited, are there free resources that can replace those that are money based? Can vital records, wills, deeds, city directories, etc. be accessed on free websites?
3. Perhaps in support of #2, take the time to search out at least five online collections that your neglected for a while or find five new collections to investigate.
4. Do you need archival materials to preserve paper artifacts? Check out companies like Gaylord Archival and University Products for sales. How unique and important are the items to be preserved? If they are irreplaceable, remember that there is no government control over the word ‘archival.’ It might be wiser to spend the money on products used by the Library of Congress and top university libraries (from the two companies above) rather than the local store-bought products, which might be fine for less valuable mementos.
5. Improve your research skills for free! Pick a new county/state or country pertinent to your genealogy research. Explore libraries, archives and societies located in that area. Check out websites that have free photos and postcards from the area. Local historical societies, state libraries, genealogy societies, EBay, Dead Fred and Ancient Faces are possibilities to investigate that have free access to view.
6. Run new searches on ancestors who you haven’t worked on for a while. New record collections come online all the time. FamilySearch full-text search can be really helpful. Remember to go to your local FamilySearch center if the collections you want to view are locked on the regular website. They will be locked in full-text search, too.
7. Do you have mystery photos – unknown subjects and/or dates and places? Try the MyHeritage Photo Dater. Try TinEye and Google Images to see if your photo already appears on the internet. A distant cousin might have the same photo and know the who-what-where and when. Check the FamilySearch family tree, too, to see if someone has posted the photo in Memories. You’ll need to have an idea of the family members to search people in that collection.
8. Catch up with emails and other correspondence related to genealogy research.
9. Check FamilySearch, Internet Archive and Google Books to located digitized versions of books on your research list.
10. Last, but not least, do take a look at your genealogy New Year’s resolutions and note your progress, lack thereof and any adjustments you need to make to those goals.

As for my own goals – I’m failing miserably at updating my software sources and notes. I began the year with a bang, but late in January we decided to get the inside of the house painted. That led to really high estimates and I decided to un-retire my house painting skills and painted all of the areas where the ceilings weren’t super high, plus all the closets, bathrooms, pantry and three bedrooms. That took until April.

However, with the summer heat here and I’m back on my blog writing schedule, I think I can make real progress on the software. There’s something to be said for staying indoors and having hobby fun when it’s 108 degrees outside!