Whether you are planning a funeral for yourself or a loved one, it can be expensive. Luckily, there are ways that you can save on costs throughout the process. If you want to keep your change in your pocket, check out these four innovative cost saving ideas:
1. Find a Cemetery that Doesn't Require a Vault
On average, burial liners cost $700 to $1,000 while vaults can cost up to $10,000 or more. Liners or vaults are required by most cemeteries, but you can find traditional cemeteries that are willing to bury bodies without them, and green cemeteries don't even allow them.
A vault is basically a concrete case that holds the casket while it is in the ground. The vault stops the ground from settling over the grave, and it slows down the process of the coffin disintegrating. If you don't mind those natural processes happening, then you don't need the vault. If you opt for a green cemetery, you may even be able to forgo the traditional expensive wood casket in favor of a cardboard one.
2. Consider a Family Headstone or Monument Instead of an Individual One
Instead of buying an expensive headstone or monument for each member of the family, pool resources and buy a family headstone. You can buy headstones for couples, or you can buy a large monument for the whole family and just mark each individual grave with a small stone.
Regardless of what type of headstone you decide to buy, if you want to save money, make sure that the cemetery you select does not require you to have special, expensive granite headstones, and talk with a headstone salesperson about which materials are the most cost effective. You can also visit sites like http://www.elmwoodcaskets.com for more information on memorial monuments.
3. Take Inspiration from the Amish
Keep in mind that when you book a funeral, you don't have to book every service that the funeral home offers. Instead, you can pick and choose the services that you want, and you can save money by doing some of them yourself. The Amish are a great example to see how this is done.
When someone who lives in the Lancaster Amish settlement dies, the family calls in a funeral director to embalm the body, and then, the family handles the rest of the process. The family dresses the body, does the hair, and places their loved one in a homemade casket. Then, they have their own funeral at home, and they bury the body in their own cemetery.
Even if you're not Amish, there are many elements of the process that you and your family can tackle on your own, including burial. If you have at least five acres, you can bury your loved ones at home. As long as you mark the burial on the deed and follow local regulations, home burial is legal in all fifty states.
4. Donate your Body to Art
You may already know that you can eliminate embalming and cremation costs by donating your body to science, but did you know that you can donate your body to art? The exhibit Body Worlds features donated human bodies in almost every position imaginable. The bodies have been submitted to a process called plastination, and they are used both artistically and educationally in exhibits all over the world.
Currently, there are over 13,000 donors from around the world involved in the program, and just over 10 percent of them are Americans. If your body is donated to this exhibit, you don't have to worry about embalming, burial, or cremation costs. However, many loved ones still do set up memorial headstones after one of their relatives has donated his or her body to science or art.
If you are ready to learn more about how to save through the process of planning a funeral, contact a funeral director. These professionals can give you tips and tricks that you may have never thought of before.
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