Five Ways to Save on Funeral Costs

Ok, how many posts can one person write about saving on funeral costs? I guess we're finding out. ;-)

Seriously, I think this will be my last post on this topic for awhile, but I did find this page that lists five tips to saving on funeral costs. They are:

• Choose lower-priced options -- By choosing certain types of funeral or cremation arrangements, you can eliminate many unnecessary funeral costs.  Choosing wisely will prevent you from being charged for lots of “extras” no one told you about.

• Make arrangements at a low-priced funeral home and cemetery -- As you probably already know, prices vary between funeral homes. Simply call funeral homes in your area and request their price information. 

• Buy merchandise and services from alternate sources -- Sometimes it makes more sense to buy certain funeral items from someone other than the funeral home handling your service.  These other suppliers usually offer more reasonable prices than the typical funeral home.

• Request or negotiate discounts from the funeral home and cemetery -- Contrary to popular belief, most funeral directors are willing to give discounts to families that ask in an appropriate manner. 

• Take advantage of any military benefits due the decedent -- Why pay for something the government is willing to provide for free?  – after all, the decedent has already earned it!

Saving money on a funeral is a fascinating topic that doesn't get a lot of coverage, that's why I think most people over-pay -- they don't know what to do to save money (and they are usually an emotional wreck anyway when making these sorts of decisions.)

Anyway, if you want even more advice on how to save money on a funeral, you can buy the Funeral $aver's Kit.

And finally, here are a couple thoughts I found on the FAQ page of Funeral Tips:

• While it’s true that the typical burial and funeral services cost between $7,000 and $10,000, it doesn’t have to cost that much. In fact, people that use the Funeral $aver’s Kit never end up paying anywhere near that much for funeral services or burial arrangements. Unfortunately, most families are not educated when it comes to planning funerals....those are the people that end up paying a lot of money.

• By using proven techniques you can realistically reduce the cost of burial and funeral services by 50% or more…..without “skimping” or having to worry about “looking cheap” in front of family and friends.

No, I don't receive any commission by pointing to this site (in case anyone was wondering) and I can't vouch for the accuracy of the information. But I do know that whenever people are forced to buy goods or services where they are 1. uninformed and 2. making emotional decisions, there's a good chance they will over-pay for them. It seems reasonable to me that with a few, simple tips, almost anyone could save a bundle on funeral services and products.

Comments

[Bronco]

Weddings and funerals are scams as they prey on people on compromised states of reason.

[Diane from PA]

If there is more than one person making the decisions (in our case there were eleven siblings) you MUST get these things decided before the death of the person involved. We could have saved a lot if cremation had taken place within about 24 hours otherwise we had to go the route of embalming and everything else that went with it, and then cremation later on.
So get the individual's wants on paper while he/she is healthy and willing to discuss it. Let all know what she wants then proceed without having to wait to track down and contact everyone before being able to do anything.