Is there any way to access public records without paying for the service?

I am doing some geneology on my family and I don't want to pay to join a group. I don't mind the look up.Is there any way to access public records without paying for the service?
assuming that it is actually a "public" record, or online.. people here do courtesy look ups all the time (ie ancestry.com). Living persons records are normally not online or most reputable genealogy sites. It all depends on what you are wanting to find.

Many records simply are not online. Meaning, you can travel there. In some instances, the services are exactly that.. something that in the long run, is far cheaper than the original route.

On the other hand, I've seen people come here and figure that they want their family history.. as long as someone else does ALL the looking for them. That isn't cool.

You need to be careful in terms of knowing that there are lots of "trees" posted online, but they are worthless, in some cases...if the person has never used any original source and doesn't realize that without a valid source, the info can be wrong (and often is). But many sites (free ones) do have original records .. not trees.



The easiest way is to post what exactly you need (include place and time!!).. and someone will try to find it for you, or explain how to go about it.Is there any way to access public records without paying for the service?
ancestor tree.com