Funerals are an upsetting topic, and an uncomfortable one that people don’t often discuss until they have to. If you end up in a situation you weren’t prepared for, as people often are, using a service such as localfuneral.co.uk will help you organise things.
As well as upsetting, it can be a stressful time financially. This article will give you tips which can hopefully help you minimise costs and still be able to give your loved one the send off that they deserve.
Plan in advance
Although not always possible, the main way to reduce funeral costs is to plan in advance. This involves the individual paying funeral costs in a payment plan over a period of time. This time period can be 12 months or over the course of multiple years depending on the type of plan.
What you must note is that these plans vary in what they include. A simple funeral plan may only include the funeral director’s services and not cover burial/cremation costs. More comprehensive plans tend to include these aspects, and many can even include floral tributes and transportation.
To ensure you can plan costs appropriately, it is best to know exactly what type of cover a particular funeral plan has.
Another plus from organising a funeral in advance is there is no emotional or time pressure, doing so when you are upset and having to make decisions quickly may result in paying more than you really had to.
Service
Contrary to what most people think, funerals do not need to be held at a funeral home or church. You can choose to only allow the funeral home to handle the burial or cremation arrangements and organise your own separate service.
If you are not particularly keen on having your service held where the funeral home suggests, it may be a good idea to minimise costs and organise your own service.
Obituary
Relying on the funeral home to organise the obituary may cost you more than just taking care of it yourself.
Another way to reduce the cost of obituaries is not including a photograph and making sure your word count is low as the more words, the higher the cost. This can be done by having someone proof what you have written to make sure what you have written is as succinct as possible.
If you need some help writing an obituary, you can use online resources such as WikiHow which gives you advice and even templates.
Extras
When it comes to the smaller aspects of the funeral, including flowers, thank-you cards and guest books, dealing directly with vendors is the best way to reduce costs.
Ordering online using websites such as eFlorist allows you to compare prices between different vendors to get the best price.
Hopefully these tips have gave you some advice on how to minimise your funeral costs.
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