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PROVO — No one likes to talk about death, but the cost of burying a loved one is one of the biggest expenses those left behind will face. Here are several ways to trim the cost without sacrificing dignity.
The average cost of a funeral in the United States is more than $7,000. By law, funeral homes are required to give you a price list before you make decisions. But there are other ways you can save on costs.
Michael Scheetz builds pine caskets starting at $650, depending on customization. The owner of American Handcrafted Caskets and Coffins in Provo, Scheetz builds caskets for far less than the average price, which is around $2,300. In three days, Scheetz can build a casket and then ship it to a funeral home — which cannot charge any sort of handling fee for it.
After someone dies, last-minute scrambling often leads to impulsive decisions by family members, said Joyce Mitchell, the president of the Funeral Consumer's Alliance of Utah. Decisions are often driven by finding the closest funeral home, rather than finding the best option for the family of the deceased.
Taking the time to call three or four funeral homes can save you $1,000 or more, says Mitchell.
"Planning ahead is a real gift you give to your loved one," Mitchell said. "You don't have to take a package deal, they allow you to itemize."
The biggest cost-saver, however, is pre-planning your own funeral. Besides money, it also saves your surviving family a lot of stress.
Scheetz shared one more way to save as much as $800: Opt out of a sealed casket. It's not required and markup on it is 8,000 percent.
"It's just a simple Neoprene strip that goes around the lid," Scheetz said. "It's worth about $10."
Scheetz has been building caskets for 23 years. His labor of love has become a way to save people hundreds of.
"I thought 'Wow, here's a niche where I can save people a great deal of money — and also give them something they always wanted'," Scheetz said.
Here's one more money-saving option: Warehouse clubs like Costco sell caskets very similar to what funeral homes offer for prices starting around $800.
Plan ahead and shop around.
