A funeral is a gathering of friends and family for the purpose of saying goodbye to someone they cared deeply for. A funeral should not make you have to spend more money than you can afford to spend.
A funeral is a tasteful gathering of people saying goodbye and expressing their love and it should reflect your respect, but it should not cause you to stress over how to pay for it. There is nothing wrong in planning a funeral that you can afford.
You have several options available that will help you reduce the final amount of a funeral.
1. Set a Budget
You need to set a budget before you start shopping for caskets, urns, funeral templates, cemetery plots and all of the other things that a funeral calls for.
If your loved one had life insurance make sure that you do not spend more than the insurance policy is for. You do not want to have to borrow money and be paying for this funeral for several years.
This budget should cover the entire cost of the funeral, the burial plot, and the headstone or grave marker that you choose.
Have a family meeting and honestly discuss what the family can afford, what they are willing to cut cost on and what items they feel they have to have.
2. Use funeral directors that offer savings
You want to provide your loved one with a funeral that has all of the amenities that you are accustomed to seeing at funerals. There are stationary and printing businesses that offer savings on items like funeral templates for under £40. These order of service templates are quality tributes that include everything you want the guests to know about the deceased, they just cost a little less than some of the others.
Saving a little money on some of the items you want does not mean that you are not honoring your loved one or that you did not love the person dearly. It means that you are being realistic and using your resources in the best possible way.
Shop around and see what the different funeral directors charge and what they include with their charges. You can often find directors who offer additional services like helping you send out obituary notices and help you arrange for the family to get to the services without charging extra for these services.
3. Do not go Overboard
You must be realistic when you are making your selections. You want to give a proper funeral but you do not have to buy the most expensive bronze casket the funeral director has to offer. Your loved one would not want to be buried in a £30,000 casket if they knew that spending that money would hurt you financially.
Speak honestly with the funeral director and let them know how much money you have to spend on the funeral. The director will then be able to make suggestions on casket lines that are within your budget. They can also help you choose an item that fits the personality and type of person that your loved one was. If your loved one was an outdoorsman who loved nature they would probably rather have a simple wooden casket than a bronze one.
Instead of sending out formal funeral notices you should consider phoning the family to tell them of the details. You can call people and ask each person to call someone they know that might want to know about the funeral arrangements. This saves you a lot of money on invitations, envelopes, and postage.
4. See if there is a family Cemetery
Before you rush out to buy a plot in a cemetery you need to ask the older family members if there is a family cemetery. If there is a family cemetery there is a good chance that a family member will have a plot that they will donate for the deceased to be laid to rest in.
If there is not a family cemetery but the individual was a church member there is a possibility that the church they belonged to can help you get a cemetery plot at a reduced rate.
5. See if there is a family Church
One of the costs of the funeral is the rental of the location where you will hold the funeral. If you have a family church that the funeral can be held at you will save a lot of money.
If the deceased did not have a church they belonged to you can ask the rest of the family and see if one of them has a church that would be willing to host the funeral at no charge.
Often churches will even host a meal for the family after the services.
You can choose to have the funeral at the graveside. This will save you money on renting a place for the service and on hiring a car to carry you to the graveside after services.
6. Choose Cremation over Burial
Cremation can be a lower-cost alternative to a traditional funeral service. Generally, cremation services cost about one-quarter of what traditional funerals cost.
If you have a memorial service where the body is displayed prior to cremation, you will have to rent a casket for the person to be laid out in. You can have a memorial service after the cremation and just set a picture of the deceased up beside the urn you have chosen for their ashes.
If the body is cremated you do not have to have the memorial at the same time limit that you would follow for a traditional funeral. Many people choose to have a private gathering somewhere that the deceased loved instead of renting a place for the services, or renting a casket.