Tips and Tricks on Organising Budget Funerals Easily

by Tony Wilson Marketing Manager

The last farewell of a beloved family member is always challenging for the family. This is an emotional situation, and things get harder and harder when it is the last wish of the deceased to have a grand funeral after passing away. People with limited budget availability are the worst affected as they have to manage their funds and even take loans to make the ceremony a reality. Things have become somewhat easier with the concept of budget funerals, as the experts from the funeral home ensure that the same grandeur is achieved without compromising on quality, but the cost stays in control. This can be done quickly with top funeral homes and budget funeral directors specialising in budget funeral services. They have several tips to offer on arranging low-cost funerals, and here is an article where you can read about them and how to personalise a funeral without breaching the budget.

What Is The Cheapest Funeral?

The cost of funerals varies significantly in Australia, and funeral homes use different strategies to keep the rates on the higher side. But this can be managed easily provided that your funeral director works for your betterment rather than staying concerned about churning more profit for the company. The top factor that influences the cost is whether you have opted for burial or cremation, and there are other factors as well, like the choice of coffin or casket, the type of ceremony, additional expenses like flowers, catering, music, transportation, etc. Apart from this, the location is another factor that influences the price of a funeral, and other inclusions are the land and crematorium fees, state government charges, and transportation costs.

While planning budget funeral services, the budget funeral directors eliminate the idea of burial, as it is significantly more expensive compared to cremation. Several expenses come with the decision of burial, like the cost of land and additional expenses like headstones, cemetery maintenance, extra charges for the final committal ceremony, and other services organised at the graveside. The average cost of burial in Australia is around $23000, whereas the average expenses related to cremation stay limited to $8000. However, this cost can increase significantly depending on the personalisation and the type of ceremony you want.

As far as budget funerals are concerned, the cheapest option is non-attended cremation or direct cremation. It is also called private cremation and considered the least expensive, as there is no formal funeral service organised around the cremation. There will be no expenses related to hiring a chapel or a celebrant, and since no funeral notice will be there, the related expenses will be eliminated. Other expenses, like the order of service printing, flowers, catering, etc., will also be trimmed out of the overall costs. Moreover, no expensive coffin or casket will be purchased in the direct cremation process.

What Is The Cost Of Budget Funeral Services In Australia?

According to the experts budget funeral directors can limit the cost of direct cremation to just $4000. As mentioned above, several expenses will be eliminated, such as the chapel, celebrant, flowers, transportation, and celebration of life.

Useful Tips Used In Organising Budget Funerals

Funeral directors have several tips to offer to meet the target of organising budget funerals, and we have covered some here.

Consider What Your Real Requirements Are

The best way to plan a personalised or budget funeral is focusing only on the most critical requirements. You can arrange a traditional or a religious funeral of a more formal nature, and there are other options to keep the concept of budget funerals alive. You can plan the farewell by creating a list of the deceased's wishes and include them in the ceremony.

Shop Around

One more expert recommendation is to conduct a thorough search about the services and products and purchase them from the cheapest source. However, you must not compromise on quality at all. Another idea is to ask for an itemised price list from budget funeral directors and obtain one from their website or by calling them directly. The chosen funeral home for the funeral ceremony should be friendly and helpful in explaining the cost and fees. If it is dismissive and sales-driven, you can reconsider your decision to seek their services.

Be Vocal About Low-Cost Budget Funeral

If the budget funerals concept is in your mind, you should be clear and vocal about it. You need to be very clear and convey this message to the budget funeral directors about keeping the cost to a minimum. You should let them know what you want and your limited budget. This will allow them to plan the entire ceremony so your budget is not affected.

Negotiations are Okay

You can keep costs further down by negotiating the cost, and this is where most families get deceived. They hesitate from negotiation for several reasons, and most importantly, the fact that it is the last ceremony of an individual. Negotiations will help you reduce costs, and by talking with the budget funeral directors, you will indeed arrange a grand funeral while keeping the expenses within your budget.