Money Saving Funeral Tip #1

Did you know that funeral homes are required by law to accept a casket that you bring in yourself?  

Caskets have an incredible markup in cost.  At one point, it was almost impossible to find a casket that was not supplied directly from a funeral home, but in the age of big box stores and the internet, it's becoming much easier to purchase one from a third party.  If you are handy with tools, you can even find free, simple plans for building your own.
One important thing to remember when pre-planning your own funeral or planning the funeral of a loved one is that how much you spend does not indicate how much you/they were loved.  

A simple pine box is so much more inexpensive (and also more environment friendly for those who would like to "green" their funeral service) than a large casket.  There are even simple cardboard caskets that encourage loved ones to leave a heartfelt message or drawing right on the box.  These cardboard caskets can cost from $40 - $200, while more elaborate caskets can be thousands of dollars.

The most important thing to do when planning is to let your wishes be known ahead of time.  No one wishes for their family to go into debt to supply them with a funeral.  If a cardboard box or simple pine casket is fine with you, tell your family.  Better yet, write down your wishes for your funeral and place them where they can be easily found by your loved ones when the time comes.  If you have the space to store it, you can even pre-purchase your casket so it's taken care of ahead of time.

If you'd like to read more about saving money on caskets, visit this page at the Funeral Consumers Alliance: http://www.funerals.org/forconsumersmenu/casketretailers