you could try the 14 day free trial with ancestry.co.uk and see how much you can get done in the 14 days, if nothing else it will show you the value of the site and how much you could be doing. Find My past is actually better in some ways for UK researchers, even though you the six month subscription seems dear, again, the research you can get through is amazing.
I did all my research 20 years ago when there was nothing on a computer and managed quite well, maybe you should look at your local studies library and see if they have anything you can find for free, it depends where your ancestors were from you see.