Today we buried my step-father. It was the best last gift we could have given him and ourselves.
Reducing the cost of funerals and related services is becoming more and more popular. There are blogs and articles springing up all over the Internet offering tips to save money, strategies to get the best deal and questions to ask when purchasing funeral plans.
In 1960, the average funeral cost was $708. According to a national-wide survey conducted by the National Funeral Director’s Association, in 2010, the same service, cost nearly $8,000. And that does not include cemetery or monument costs!
There are nearly 20,000 funeral homes in the U.S. making the funeral business is a $12 billion industry. The chances of the cost of funerals going down is next to impossible.
So what is that $12 billion spent on each year? The largest single-item on the typical list of costs is the casket. And to be fair, it is also typically the largest single-item expense for a funeral home.
The total bill for my step-dad; $173.
Was it easy? Well, that depends. There was a huge learning curve.
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| Family members signed the casket before interment in the national cemetery. |
There are nearly 20,000 funeral homes in the U.S. making the funeral business is a $12 billion industry. The chances of the cost of funerals going down is next to impossible.
So what is that $12 billion spent on each year? The largest single-item on the typical list of costs is the casket. And to be fair, it is also typically the largest single-item expense for a funeral home.
The total bill for my step-dad; $173.
Was it easy? Well, that depends. There was a huge learning curve.
