Funerals can be an expensive affair if costs are not clearly taken into consideration. The cost of a funeral can reach thousands of pounds which many people cannot afford or simply put together. This creates the question of you really need an expensive send off and if you can afford it. Here are tips on how to find an affordable funeral package:
Shop Around
Before choosing a funeral home to do all your burial services, you need to shop around for available funeral homes. A funeral home is required to provide their customers an itemized list of their services. This will make it possible to go through and compare through the various funeral homes. When doing the comparison, you will be able to see which funeral home offers value for money. Shopping around will also allow you to interact with staff of the various funeral homes. You get a chance to know if a funeral home will be a good pick for you.
Stay Within A Budget
The best way to stay in control of your funeral expenditure is by having a budget. You need to set aside an amount that is comfortable for you to spend and stick to it. You need to establish a budget by researching the various funeral costs and other unseen costs. While researching through the various funeral costs, you get to decide which costs are worthy and those you don’t need. After drafting the budget, be sure to stick to it.
Negotiate
The good thing about having a budget and knowing the various costs is that you will be able to negotiate. Many funeral homes add huge markups to their costs so as to maximize profits. If you know the approximate costs of the service you will be able to negotiate with them to give you a good deal. Rather than blindly go and be told of outrageous prices, you will have an edge by saying what you are willing to spend for specific services.
Avoid Upsells
Due to funeral homes adding large markups on merchandise and services, you can avoid highly inflated costs by having the knowledge of the various costs. Avoid a funeral home that upsells all their merchandise and services as it will cost you.
Consider Cremation
This is another popular alternative to the traditional burial. It is also the most affordable and cost friendly. Cremation involves exposing the dead body to high heat until it turns to ash. The ash can be buried, kept in an urn or scattered in large water bodies such as rivers and oceans. The key to cremation is keeping it simple, nothing complicated is needed when cremating. You can avoid extra charges by skipping a memorial service and adding any trendy extras.
Avoid Embalming
It was once a standard practice to artificially preserve the body before burying. This process is called embalming. It involves using an expensive chemical known as formaldehyde. The chemical is harmful to living organisms and to the soil. To avoid unnecessary costs, it’s better to bury a body after death.
If you are looking for affordable funeral plans without compromising the quality of the funeral services, you can check out Premier Funerals.