Ten ways to reduce the burden of funeral costs

Following on from our previous blog, Ways to help paying for a funeral, we felt that suggesting ten ways to reduce the burden of funeral costs could help those who need some further support and guidance.

 Set a budget and work within that. It will help you make good decisions.

1. Choose alow costcoffin (£160-£190). You can decorate a simple coffin with cloths and a few flowers to make it look beautiful and elegant. 
2. Have family and friends to bear the coffin – it is an honour to do this. If a coffin is carriedlowit doesn’t matter about different heights and men and women can both participate. Saves £140-£200. 
3. Transport the coffin in the funeral director’s estate car or a family vehicle rather than a formal hearse.Saves £200-£300.
4. Separate the ceremony fr0m the cremation. Forexamplea service at home, in a community space or at our Riverstone premises, with an unattended cremation the following morning. Saves £300 – £400. 
5. A woodland burial at Bidwell Woodland(£820)or South Hams Burial (£1000) is relatively low cost. Funerals at these tend to be less formal (and so less costly) and you don’t need an expensive headstone. Saves £500. 
6. 7. Ask people to bring food for the gathering after – they enjoy participating and the food brought is normally fantastic.(Saves£10 pp) 

And slightly more radical ideas 

8. Looking after the body – under certain circumstances it is fine to look after the person who has died for a few days – we provide instructions and a kit to help with this. Then have the funeral as soon as possible after the death.
9. You can have a burial on private land if you have a suitable piece of land, and so there is no burial plot fee (saves£600+).
10. Have a direct cremation, where the cremation ismadeand the ashes returned to you. Then you can have a memorial service separately. Saves up to £800. 

The savings shown are approximate on average local prices. You can view our open funeral costs here >