Funeral Costs

[MoKelly]

My father passed last Saturday. He lived in Memphis but will be buried in STL in an already purchased plot next to my mom.

We had to make all the arrangements. Holy cow folks!

- casket $5500

- transport to STL $3000

- Memphis funeral home $3200

- STL funeral home $2200

- burial $1500

- flowers $800

- reception food $800

Original death certificates are $50 each. You need lots of original death certificates. Every POD wants an original.

Those are the big items. Lots of little stuff. Church ministers, choir and servers want their money in cash in an envelope.

My dad had put away the money for all the costs. That isn’t an issue. Nevertheless, it’s something to experience and it’s not a great experience.

I’d say if you haven’t prearranged everything, you should seriously consider.

MoKelly

 

[EddieWalker]

Sorry for your loss.

My dad is getting close and we're thankful for every month that he's here, but we've also put in some time going over his arrangements. Fortunately, he wants to be cremated, so that's a huge savings for my mom.

My wife and I have also made it clear that we would prefer to be cremated and have our ashes spread out over our big pond.

 

[MossRoad]

First, please accept my condolences on your father's passing. I wish you and yours peace.


Second, thanks for the frank discussion on funeral costs.

My father in-law passed away in November last year. He and my mother in-law had everything pre-arranged. Even with that, there were additional costs because the cost of some things out of control of the funeral home had risen. I think it was both the cement vault and the grave opening fees from the cemetery had gone up a few hundred dollars. Other than that, everything was locked in price.

I asked the funeral director how much they saved by pre-planning? He showed me what my in-laws paid about 10 years ago and locked in their prices, VS paying on that day at the time of death. It was, as I recall, over a thousand dollars, but under two thousand. It was significant to them.

It was just nice to be able to go into the funeral home office after he passed, sit down with the funeral director, and he opens a file, shows you that everything has already been taken care of, and all they needed was a small check to take care of that vault and grave opening. 10 minute meeting. Made it a lot easier on my mother in-law that day.

 

[MoKelly]

First, please accept my condolences on your father's passing. I wish you and yours peace.


Second, thanks for the frank discussion on funeral costs.

My father in-law passed away in November last year. He and my mother in-law had everything pre-arranged. Even with that, there were additional costs because the cost of some things out of control of the funeral home had risen. I think it was both the cement vault and the grave opening fees from the cemetery had gone up a few hundred dollars. Other than that, everything was locked in price.

I asked the funeral director how much they saved by pre-planning? He showed me what my in-laws paid about 10 years ago and locked in their prices, VS paying on that day at the time of death. It was, as I recall, over a thousand dollars, but under two thousand. It was significant to them.

It was just nice to be able to go into the funeral home office after he passed, sit down with the funeral director, and he opens a file, shows you that everything has already been taken care of, and all they needed was a small check to take care of that vault and grave opening. 10 minute meeting. Made it a lot easier on my mother in-law that day.

Thanks for the kind words. My dad was getting very frail and his only fear in old age was not being able to live independently. He wanted zero to do with nursing homes. So, I view this as a blessing. It was his time.

I do believe what you describe is the best way to handle.

I guess the only “risk” in that plan is if the funeral home goes out-of-business? Not acquired by another company but just closes the doors.

My wife and I have an appointment in 3 weeks to begin the prearrangement process. I’ll let everyone know how that goes.

MoKelly

 

[MossRoad]

Thanks for the kind words. My dad was getting very frail and his only fear in old age was not being able to live independently. He wanted zero to do with nursing homes. So, I view this as a blessing. It was his time.

I do believe what you describe is the best way to handle.

I guess the only “risk” in that plan is if the funeral home goes out-of-business? Not acquired by another company but just closes the doors.

My wife and I have an appointment in 3 weeks to begin the prearrangement process. I’ll let everyone know how that goes.

MoKelly

Yep. I can see that it's our turn to do the planning soon so our kids won't have to. I can see how a funeral home going out of business would be a concern. However, both of the ones that our family use are in their 3rd or more generation, business is sadly booming, one of them owns their own cemetery, and I don't see them going out of business or being bought out.

But my crystal ball doesn't have the best of track records.

 

[PILOON]

Boy do those funeral sales folks know all the sales tricks.
They sure know how to make you feel guilty if U don't spend a fortune.
Yep, pre arranged sure saves your kin much guilt and $$'s.

 

[ptsg]

I can't really help you on this discussion but I just wanted to send you my condolences on your father's passing MoKelly.

 

[MoKelly]

I can't really help you on this discussion but I just wanted to send you my condolences on your father's passing MoKelly.

Thank you very much.

 

[Wagtail]

Thanks for the kind words. My dad was getting very frail and his only fear in old age was not being able to live independently. He wanted zero to do with nursing homes. So, I view this as a blessing. It was his time.

I do believe what you describe is the best way to handle.

I guess the only “risk” in that plan is if the funeral home goes out-of-business? Not acquired by another company but just closes the doors.

My wife and I have an appointment in 3 weeks to begin the prearrangement process. I’ll let everyone know how that goes.

MoKelly

Condolences Mate.

I 'got off my arse' and went to the local funeral parlour to discuss my arrangements. Actually a great experience and a lot for me to ponder after the fact including songs/hymns, readings and, most importantly, they took down all of my details for completing my Death Certificate. Everything will be kept 'on file' and the price is locked in. By law, I had a week's cooling off period before signing.

Here in Tassie (at least) the money goes into a specific trust at a specific banking institution that is independent of the funeral home/parlour. If I cark-it somewhere else, or have moved in the future, the local funeral parlour gets everything transferred to them... arrangements, Certificate information and the $'s from the 'trust'.

 

[ranger danger]

When my mom passed 4 years ago her service cost me a total of $1650. I had her cremated and had a celebration of life at my property in the mountains with about 50 people. I hired a BBQ caterer for $600 and had a granite park bench with an inscription made for her marker, cost me $500. Her cremation cost $550. No casket needed. We spread her ashes on my place and my daughters place up the road. I don't understand why people go into debt for weddings and funerals. When I got married, my wife and I went to the courthouse. Cost $75. We've been married for over 38 years and did not start our lives together in dept.