Alternative, low-cost funeral options

With the recession hitting everyone in the pocketbook, many families want to find lower cost options for the essentials--including funerals. Newsweek recently reported on simple funeral services that reduce the expense and overhead of traditional "casketed" funerals. The low-cost options usually involve cremation so that there are no embalming, casket, vault, or cemetery plot expenses. Also, even with a traditional funeral, families may reduce costs by trimming back, such as forgoing limosine services and buying a cheaper casket.

In a similar story, the Smithsonian magazine told the story of one family where a traditional funeral on one side of the family contrasted with the "do-it-yourself" funeral on the other side. For the DIY funeral, the family attended to the body of the deceased at home (with no embalming), built the casket, and delivered the body for cremation.

Although cost wasn't driving the decisions for the family members involved (the two funerals were different largely because of wishes of the deceased and the family), the cost difference was $7000 between the at-home preparation and funeral and the traditional embalming and funeral.

Photo by clearly ambiguous; used by permission.)