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Plan A Respectful Funeral Even On A Tight Budget

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Plan A Respectful Funeral Even On A Tight Budget

When a loved one passes on to the other side, it’s customary to celebrate their life with their other friends and loved ones. However, not everyone plans for farewell arrangements before their death. This may put the cost on your shoulders. Here are some tips on how to plan a respectful funeral even on a tight budget.

Ask for Help

You shouldn’t have to take on the entire responsibility of a memorial service yourself. Friends and family most likely want to contribute, so tell them that you are taking donations. To reach a large number of people, use a crowdsourcing site and share your post on social media. It can feel embarrassing to ask for help, but this is exactly the time when you should let others be there for you, too. Plus, the contributions can help you provide your loved one with a more luxurious goodbye than you could do on your own.

Look at Your Loved One’s Insurance Policies

While you’re planning out the funeral, make sure that you also take time to handle the important logistical matters. You’ll need to close your loved one’s accounts, obtain the death certificate, and make other important decisions. 

It’s also vital that you touch base with the life insurance company to see if your loved one had life insurance or burial and funeral insurance. If they did, you’ll want to put in a claim so that you can get the ball rolling on handling the expenses moving forward.

Choose the Right Funeral Home

To get help planning out the funeral, it’s important that you touch base with a few different businesses that can assist you. Take the time to speak with them individually to make sure you get a sense of their helpfulness rather than focusing on price alone. 

Funeral homes are very community oriented, so you should reach out to people in your inner circle to see which funeral homes they’ve done business with in the past. These homes are required to provide you with an itemized list of their expenses as well, so take the time to browse their services without feeling rushed.

Be Upfront About Your Budget

While the conversation may get uncomfortable, it’s best to be upfront with everyone else about what you can pay at the very beginning. When you clarify the budget, you will have an easier time figuring out the rest of the details. The planner also won’t be as tempted to push luxurious options you can’t afford.

If you happen to be low on funds at the moment, you can talk to the funeral home about the possibility of a payment plan. They understand the expense and difficulty of planning funerals, so they’re often willing to work something out.

Look Into Cremation

It costs a lot of money to buy a grave site. After you have a plot, you will also need to purchase the coffin and pay for someone to lower your loved one to rest. Additionally, you will have to pay for maintenance to the grave site.

Cremation costs about a third of the cost of a burial service. This means that cremation is easier to fit into tight budgets, especially when your loved one passes unexpectedly. With cremation, you can also choose to keep the ashes at home, scatter them in your loved one’s favorite place, or choose a more creative option. You can talk to the cremation service, like Simple Choices Inc., about options for the remains.

Have the Funeral at Home

You don’t necessarily need to rent out a space at a funeral home to host the service. If you or someone close to the deceased has the space available at home, consider having the memorial in a residence. This also helps create a more intimate experience for the funeral attendees, especially if the funeral is hosted at your late loved one’s home. 

You can also save money by decorating yourself. Arrange a few bouquets of funeral lilies or of your loved one’s favorite flower around the house. Display pictures of your loved one from throughout their life for attendees to look at and reminisce over.

Funerals are often accompanied by a meal. This can be a lot to cook on your own, especially if you’re short on time, but catered meals can quickly become expensive. To save on both time and money, ask guests to bring a dish to share potluck style. If your loved one attended church, reach out to their congregation. They are usually happy to help with the meal or with other arrangements.

Notify the Public

Once the planning is complete, take the time to put together arrangements and notify the public. You should get a quality obituary written that serves as both an announcement and a commemoration. Buying one of these written obituaries will usually cost you at least $100, if not more, depending on where you live. Make sure that you find a writer whose style you enjoy and that you put some thought and energy into exactly what you would like the announcement to say. Then choose a great photograph to go with it.

You can save some money by writing the obituary yourself or having another family member write it. Just remember to keep it short, because newspapers usually charge either by the word or by the inch. You can also save money by leaving out the photograph.

A farewell does not need to be extravagant to be meaningful. You just need to put your heart into the planning and enlist the help of other people who loved the deceased. When you’re looking to lay a family member to rest, it’s important that you take time to handle things properly. Since there are a lot of different ideas to keep in mind during this difficult time, it’s also crucial that you find the right funeral home and director to help you out. Taking the proper steps will help you find the right professionals for the job and will make your job of planning out the funeral that much easier and make the funeral itself more affordable.

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