Managing funeral costs

Managing funeral costs

Happy Halloween from YoungMoneyFinance! Although there’s a lot of celebrating the dead, undead and partially dead during Halloween, I’d love to transition to actually discussing the process of dying. None of us certainly wants to think about death but it’s one of those things that as adults it’s worth considering!

One of the things you’ll need to think about if you’re having to organize a funeral is the costs involved. It’s a tough time and you’ll be dealing with grief at the same time. But the financial side of things is something you’ll have to pay attention to as well because funerals can be incredibly expensive and the costs can spiral fast if you’re not careful. Here’s what you need to know about this task.

Image Source – CC0 License

Understand Costs of the Different Options

There are lots of different ways of planning a funeral, and these different options come with different associated costs. You should take the time to try and understand those options and contrast the costs. By making the right decisions early on in the planning process, you can bring down the overall cost of the funeral as a whole, and that’s probably a positive thing for you. It’s worth making any wishes you have for your funeral to be made known beforehand!

Take Time Finding a Suitable Funeral Director

It’s a good idea to spend time finding the right funeral director for you. Not only will the level of service they deliver make a big difference to yours and your family’s experience of the funeral but also they’ll help you to ensure that the costs are kept in check if you find the right one. It really is a very important decision so don’t simply choose to work with the first one you come across. As with most things in life, make a few phone calls, ask around and do a little research before making a decision.

Avoid Hiring Vehicles

Depending on your situation, hiring lots of extra vehicles to transport all of the family members between the wake to the location of the funeral service can cost a lot of money. That’s why it’s probably something that’s best avoided. Instead, you can have people make their own journey between these places and save yourself money and planning time in the process. It’s often more comfortable for people to make their own way there too.

Balance Your Priorities

There are many priorities that you’ll have when you need to organize a funeral for a loved one. Different mortuaries will offer different things, and you’ll need to make sure that you give your loved one a send off that you can be happy with, and that will meet any final wishes that they had. Try to balance all these priorities with the need to save money and not spend more on the funeral than you can afford to.

Save Costs on a Memorial

Saving money on the memorial is something that’s definitely very important because it’s easy to choose the most expensive materials and locations when it comes to maintaining a memorial. But something simpler and more modest can be just as meaningful without the added costs, so that’s something to keep in mind if you’re going to create a memorial for your loved one.

Summary

Nobody wants to find themselves planning and organizing a funeral, but the reality is that it has to happen, and we all experience it one day. It’s important that you manage the cost because although the emotional burden takes precedence, the financial burden of funerals can be huge too.

Disclosure: Some links are affiliate links that earn me a commission.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.