Dealing with grief and sadness after losing someone close to you is not easy, but having to organize a funeral on top of everything else can make matters a lot worse. Deciding on the funeral home can be tricky, especially with approximately 20,000 of them to choose from throughout the United States.
Funerals can cost a large sum of money and a lot of folks have had to borrow cash from a money lender to pay for it. Keep in mind that not all funeral homes charge the same fees, so if time is on your side it might be worth your while shopping around. However, it is possible to organize a nice funeral without having to spend a fortune.
Preparing for a loved one’s funeral before they pass away will give you more time to research and plan for the event. Although it might sound strange to organize a funeral before a person has died, it could save you a lot of stress and money. If there is a person in your family who is nearing death, consider finding a funeral home sooner rather than later. When the person eventually passes away, you will have done a lot of the funeral preparations so you and your other family members can focus on dealing with the loss of a loved one.
Know you Budget
Organize a meeting amongst family members to see how much money you have to spend on the funeral home. Since the pandemic began a lot of people have lost their jobs, so the budget might turn out to be a lot smaller than you would have hoped. Before you visit funeral homes, know exactly the amount of money you have available. There is no point going into a funeral home, agreeing on a price, and not having enough cash to pay for it. Remember, the funeral home isn’t the only expenditure when organizing a funeral, so if you are working off a tight budget, don’t forget you will still have to pay for the reception area, flowers, etc.
Before you start splashing the cash, find out if the person who has died has prepaid for any of the funeral arrangements. Nowadays, a lot of people save money before they die to cover their funeral fees. This way their family doesn’t have to pay for the event. Some life insurance policies cover burials. Find out if they have taken out a life insurance policy before they passed away. Some people organize the entire event well before they die. They might already have the funeral home paid for, the venue where they would have wanted the reception to take place and the cost of the casket.
Decide on the Service
If the person who has passed away hasn’t organized their funeral, you and other family members will have to decide on the funeral services. These are some of the topics that should be discussed:
• Would you like an open casket?
• Do you want an immediate burial or a direct cremation? There are lots of different burial options such as an in-ground burial, an above-ground burial, or a lawn crypt burial. Familiarize yourself with the different types of burials before deciding on what to do.
Take your time when deciding on the service and ask family members and close friends for advice on what to do. Speak to several funeral homes before you decide on what one to use. If you would like to customize the funeral, ask the funeral home if this is an option. Unfortunately, sometimes those working in a funeral home can be a bit pushy. They might try and persuade you to invest in a more expensive service, even if it is out of your budget. Even if you are not interested, they might try and convince you to spend a lot more cash than you would have hoped. This is another reason why you should consider organizing the funeral arrangements before the person dies. When you are grieving the loss of a loved one, making financial decisions is not going to be easy. There are some funeral home employees that will be looking to take advantage of your situation and sell you a service that you cannot afford.
Should I buy a Casket Online?
The cost of a casket can burn a hole in your pocket. So before agreeing on a fee for a casket in a traditional funeral home, consider looking at the caskets for sale on the web first. It seems like everybody in today’s society shops for products online. Although these are normally small-sized items, some people purchase large items on the internet.
Shopping for new caskets online is part of the new normal. Before the pandemic, the majority of people bought caskets from physical funeral homes, but with the risk of contracting COVID-19, a lot of people are purchasing caskets from the safety of their own homes. One of the leading online casket company that is located in America is able to sell caskets for a fraction of the price of the caskets available in traditional funeral homes. You will have a lot of options on the internet, so you should have no problems finding a casket that your loved one would have liked.
Tips for Shopping for a Casket Online
Before spending your hard-earned money online, consider making direct contact with the casket company first. Although they might have all of the information you need on their website, it is a good idea to know a person within the company in case anything goes wrong. For example, you will want to know the exact date and time the casket will be arriving. What happens if it doesn’t arrive in time for the funeral, will you be able to get a full refund? If the employees at the company are reluctant to speak with you directly, it’s probably best if you purchase from a different company. Research the business on the web. Satisfied and disgruntled customers often post reviews about certain companies online. If the casket company has a bad reputation, you are bound to find dissatisfied customers expressing their feelings on forums and websites that allow people to post reviews.
Shopping online makes shopping around for a casket easy. You don’t have to go to every funeral home in person to see what they have in stock. You can browse through different websites in a matter of seconds. However, find out if there are any hidden costs before you invest. The price of shipping a casket can cost a pretty penny, so you will want to find out the total before you buy a casket online.
Visit as many Funeral Homes as Possible
Before visiting a funeral home, don’t forget to make an appointment first. During the ongoing pandemic, a lot of funeral homes will only speak with potential clients if they have already made an appointment to help reduce the spread of the deadly virus. It is a good idea to prepare a list of questions before you speak with any of the funeral home’s employees, so you can avoid going off track. Ask other family members and friends to help you prepare the list of questions.
The funeral home should have a general price list that they can give to you. Don’t be afraid to tell them that you are shopping around for funeral homes. This way they might drop their current prices in order to win your business. You want to deal with a funeral director that you can see eye to eye with. If you don’t trust him or her, it can make the process even more difficult. In every funeral home, you go to, ask for a quote. Explain in detail all of your arrangements and ask that they provide you with an itemized statement. Once you have the statement, go home and discuss it with the others who are helping finance the funeral.
