Simple Tips for Saving Funeral Expenses

Arranging your loved one’s service at funeral homes Bethlehem, PA, can be expensive, particularly when you haven’t planned for it. A traditional burial funeral can tens of thousands of dollars. The average American family doesn’t have such an amount in savings and can have a tough time paying the bills. 

Given this, we will walk you through some basic tips that can help you save a significant amount while planning a funeral. 

Choosing the Right Funeral Home 

First and foremost, select the best funeral home that meets your requirements. Spending considerable time in finding the right funeral home can save you thousands of dollars. Do your research, find the funeral homes that can accommodate your family's needs, and don’t make the final decision until you get three quotes from different funeral homes. 

Many people overlook this process and end up paying hundreds of extra dollars. 

Choose Your Cemetery Wisely 

Many people are unaware of the fact that choosing the right cemetery can easily save you a big chunk of money. There are two types of cemeteries in America. 

• Community or non-profit cemeteries 

• Perpetual care cemeteries 

The latter cost thousands of dollars as they require an outer vault to encase the body, unlike community cemeteries. So, you can go to non-profit cemeteries that don’t need any container or vault to encase the body. 

Consider Cremation 

Cremation funerals are rapidly gaining momentum in America. An average cremation funeral costs half of a traditional burial. 

In a cremation service, a body is burnt with or without the viewing service. After a few days, the funeral home returns the cremated remains or ashes to the bereaved family. 

The family has a myriad of options to honor the remains of the lost loved one. It can keep the remains in the house, scatter from mountains, or bury them in water, natural landscape, or the deceased’s favorite city or place. 

However, some religious traditions bar people from cremation funerals including Jewish and Muslims. But since the last decade, the ratio of Americans preferring cremation funerals has outpaced the burial ones. 

Skip Embalming 

Embalming is preserving the body when you have a long period between death and burial. Embalming services aren’t free. But you don’t require embalming when burial or cremation is within two days of death. 

If you need to preserve the body for viewing anyways, refrigeration is a viable option.   

Plan in Advance 

Nobody wants to talk about their death, but planning your family in advance can save your family from overspending at the time of utmost pain and grief. While planning a regular funeral, you have to make dozens of decisions within a day after the death of a loved one, and chances of making unscrupulous decisions are higher. 

Contrarily, preplanning a funeral allows you to choose every service pragmatically and don’t overspend on the services. Also, you can pay in advance to save your family from financial troubles. Thus, you can save a lot of money by boning on the above guidelines while planning at funeral homes Bethlehem, PA.