I got on the bandwagon this week and used the wealth of free internet resources available to attempt to trace my family tree. I was doing quite well for a while but kept getting stuck (being unwilling to pay for certificate copies), until eventually I ran out of branches. This is what I got.
I can't trace any of my mother's family, being from the far east. My paternal great grandparents were from Ireland, which destroyed all it's censuses. My father's maternal great grandmother (Margaret Moore) was born on the Isle of Man in 1843 (unfortunately so were two Margaret Moores). My father's mother's father's mother (Harriet Wakefield), is somehow related (through marriage) to her husband, she is the niece of William Ashton, but again, there are too many Harriet Wakefields. Prior to 1800, records are patchy at best.
I started making an mySQL database to hold the information, but then started trying online family tree software already available, I wasn't particularly impressed, so maybe I'll give the SQL thing another go again soon.