Thrifty Mommy

Top 10 ways to save money on a funeral

by kellys on July 18th, 2008

My grandmother has been gone for a few months now and I have been thinking about death and how expensive it can be. I couldn’t get over how much everything costs. I ran across a great article from Bankrate about the 10 things funeral directors don’t want you to know. I thought I would share them with you. The number one thing, after having been involved with planning a funeral on my husband’s side in recent years, is to pre plan your own funeral and don’t leave that stress to your kids. Here are the top10 things they don’t want you to know but now you do.

1. Shop around. Don’t just go to the first funeral home you find on the street.
2. Funeral Directors are out to make money. They are not pastors.
3. Embalming is not required if your loved one is buried within 24-48 hours.
4. You can see your loved one before embalming with no regrets.
5. Sealed caskets don’t protect your loved one any better than a non sealed casket.
6. Funeral homes can NOT charge you or deny you if you bought a casket somewhere else. It’s a law.
7. A modest casket can cost around $400-$600 not $4000 - $6000.
8. Don’t blindly sign on for the “bundle services”.
9. The funeral home doesn’t have to have a corner market on funeral services. You can do some of it on your home computer and at other locations.
10. Check out local funeral societies for better negotiating capabilities.

I had no idea about #7 and # 10. Just thought you might like to know some of the best ways to cut down on funeral expenses.

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