Funeral expenses really consist of three separate pieces:
- the services and merchandise provided by the funeral home
- the costs and services to dispose of the body or cremains (i.e. ashes) at the cemetery or elsewhere
- the cost to purchase and install some type of memorial (i.e. headstone, marker, monument)
Even if you end up paying for all three pieces through the funeral home, it’s best to break the cost of a funeral down into the above-three categories.
When estimating your TOTAL funeral costs, you must add all three pieces together. I think this is by far the best way to plan a funeral because it allows you to isolate and prioritize the goods and services that are most important to you.
While every family is different, the most common complaint I hear from families is “I wish I would have spent less on the funeral and more on the memorial”. This makes some sense since the memorial is the only thing that lasts after the funeral is over.
If you would like to save money the next time you need to make funeral arrangements, you can search and compare local funeral home pricing at Parting.com.
See what a funeral costs in these popular cities:
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