by Louise Christensen

Created on: May 28, 2011

Thinking about funerals can be a highly emotional subject and that is precisely why funerals can be so expensive. One does not have to be a highly logical person or a penny pincher to think about savings when the cost of a funeral is considered. There are several avenues that can be taken and even the most emotionally fragile person can save money when it comes to funeral expenses. There are several things to take into consideration before getting to the more practical aspects of reducing the cost of a funeral.

Foremost in the equation is who is going to plan the funeral and who the funeral is for. Even though pre-planning a funeral has been an option for several decades now, to the general population, it is surprising how many people can be squeamish about the idea; therein lies the crux.  If a person cannot accept the notion that they will die one day regardless of how much they don’t want to, how can that person be expected to plan their own funeral.  There are several ways this issue can be side-stepped in such a way that it does not upset the person whose funeral is being planned for.

If a child wishes to pre-plan a funeral for a parent, they can start by planning their own.  Once this has been accomplished they can in a matter of fact way approach their parent and explain what they have done so that “if anything should happen” the rest of the family will know that decisions have already been made. Time can be taken to go over the plan which will open the door to a general discussion with the parent about preferences and costs. If the discussion upsets the parent the child can point out how much more upsetting it would be if the parent were forced to plan for the child instead.

For some people it might take several conversations over a period of time to get everything out in the open. Once the conversation flows more naturally it will be easier to simply ask a parent what they think would be nice to have at their funeral. For those people who respond with “it won’t matter then what I want”, that is a good time to ask if money has been set aside to cover the expense.  That in turn opens the door to cover the average cost of a funeral and the tendency of funeral directors to lean toward a full package deal to grieving family members. Of course there are always levels of packages and it depends on the circumstances and emotional state of the family if they will make a purchase they can afford or if they

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>