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How Cheap can a Funeral Be !

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  • Petal_3
    Petal_3 Posts: 779 Forumite
    My Dad's is gonna be cheap. He's told me "cardboard coffin, cremation, no service, no flowers.....no nothing"

    Bless!
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    R.I.P Darling Jackson 11/7/09 - 15/1/10 :(
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  • Jay-Jay_4
    Jay-Jay_4 Posts: 7,351 Forumite
    I'm arranging a funeral at the moment :(

    I agree that the cost of an 'average' funeral is somewhere around the £2000 mark and although it 'could' be done cheaper it's not as easy as you would think.

    For a start, once the person dies you don't have very long to make your decisions as you can't exactly hang about. You may be upset too depending on the circumstances of death ie:

    If the death was unexpected (and messy) you would automatically call an ambulance, and if the doctor hasn't seen the deceased in the last few weeks then it's classed as sudden death and the police are called. The doctor comes but by this time the ambulance has gone so you have to make arrangements to take the body to a mortuary, possibly for a post mortem. As the ambulance has long gone and you're left with a body which needs moving sooner rather than later. It may be the middle of the night and you may be left without a clue what to do. This is where a funeral director comes in and a funeral director is the biggest cost.

    I'm not saying that it's not possible to do it all yourself, I'm just saying that things don't always go to plan and that people don't always die peacefully in their sleep to be found at a reasonable time of day.

    The job of a funeral director is to collect the body, transfer it to hospital (if a PM needs to be done) liaise with the coroner, collect the body, provide the coffin, clean up and embalm the body, dress the deceased in special clothes and provide a place where people can go to see the body. They liaise with the church(s), the crematorium, provide the funeral cars, flowers, obituary in the paper and they deal with it all with dignity. I just can't imagine having to do all that on my own having just lost a loved one in what I can only describe as horrendous circumstances.

    It DOES cost around £2000 but IMO it's money well spent.
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  • Jay-jay

    Just wanted to say that I'm sorry for your loss :(

    I had the task of arranging my Mother's funeral a couple of years ago....not easy :(

    ((((Hugs))))
    Owned by [STRIKE]4[/STRIKE] 4 cats: 2 x Maine coon cross males, 1 x Pixie Bob male and[STRIKE] 2[/STRIKE] 1 x Norwegian Forest male....cute!

    R.I.P Darling Jackson 11/7/09 - 15/1/10 :(
    Miss u sweetie... :heart:
  • Yorkielass
    Yorkielass Posts: 2,235
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    My Grandad who is 85 paid for his funeral at least 10 years ago - did some sort of scheme with co-operative funeral directors I think, my Nan did die in 1988 so I think that's why he wanted it sorted so he could have whatever he wanted.

    It's weird because people go on and on about how much weddings cost and things like that - but I doubt many people think about how much a funeral really costs - if I'd have had to guess I would have said about £800 - so obviously way off the mark :o

    Jay-jay sorry to hear of your loss - hope your arrangements and the funeral itself go as well as can be expected.
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  • System
    System Posts: 178,077
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    When my Father and Step Father died, my mother was charged to have their bodies embalmed. Well, she paid, but they never asked her if she wanted them embalmed.

    When my daughter did an NVQ in care. She had to do a section in death. So as she was under 18 i was asked to accompany her to a watch a body being embalmed. I went under duress and on an empty stomach, i asked loads of questions about the process, and why it was done. I made a decision that day that i wont be paying for any of my family to be embalmed. I have told MrJudi that if/when i die, when the undertaker comes for my body, i have told him to tell them, that i dont want to be embalmed, and have told him to tell them, that he wont pay for it if they do. It cost my mother over £300 a time to have the bodies of my dear Father and Father In Law embalmed. Which, in my opinion, (which may not be the same opinion as someone else i might add), is a total waste of money.
  • Bogof_Babe
    Bogof_Babe Posts: 10,803 Forumite
    My parents are 87 and 90, so obviously these things get discussed occasionally. I have no problem in paying for the best send-off they deserve, but what does slightly give me pause for thought is that as they both want to be cremated, what is the point of spending hundreds on a fancy coffin, only to see it go up in smoke?

    It's such a waste of nature's resources, and the craftsmanship that goes into them. Somehow if they were being buried I wouldn't give it a thought.

    Not sure of the best way to approach the matter of a cardboard coffin :o .

    To lighten the atmosphere (?), when I was mistakenly (thank goodness) diagnosed with cancer, having been rushed into hospital with what turned out to be operable, my husband was talking to me about where I'd be buried (next to his mum so he could tend the graves at the same time :p ), I said he must arrange a wake at the pub, with food etc. as people might have travelled and would be expecting it. He said beggar that, he wasn't going to bother, and I got really upset. More upset than I was about the prospect of dying, actually. :cool:
    :D I haven't bogged off yet, and I ain't no babe :D

  • nearlyrich
    nearlyrich Posts: 13,698
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    I arranged a funeral for a family friend who had no relatives a couple of years ago, they had no money or belongings that were worth anything and as they died in hospital the hospital paid for a simple funeral. That included the services of the undertaker, a hearse for the transfer to the crematorium and the services of a minister.
    The simple funeral didn't include flowers, a wake, newspaper notices or any further cars but we made sure that no-one knew it was anything less than a proper do.

    The deceased wanted their ashes scattering in the Garden of Remembrance where their spouse had been scattered so I didn't have the problem of what to do with the remains.

    The cost was about £1600, the undertaker sent me a bill by mistake.
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  • I can't beleive how much it costs for even a simple funeral. Thanks for all your posts, some of them are particularly interesting, especially the one about leaving the body at the crem door. I won't be doing that but believe that by the time she goes there'll be not a cent left in the bank and hundreds of debt letters piling up on the door mat.
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  • Further to my earlier posting I found this site http://www.pushindaisies.com/candypress/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=184 and yes it is real! Also whilst researching my previous funeral I discovered that there is little price difference between a cardboard coffin and an economy veneered normal coffin, the reason is that the card ones have to be waterproof and need a lot of board to stand the weight. These seem like a good idea instead http://www.staffspasttrack.org.uk/exhibit/ilm/Mourining%20and%20Remembrance/Types%20of%20funerals/Funerals.htm
    I know for a fact that you can deliver a body to the local crem (in a zip up body bag or coffin) no service or anything and it will be disposed of for a few hundred quid, there are however some costs that are unavoidable, such as death certs and copies thereof, also you need to see the registrar too!
    My father was an undertaker for many many years and had some wickedly funny stories to tell (also some very very sad ones too) He was cremated by his old firm and they still billed us!! He used to love visiting Matlock Bath - So when he came back in a bottle we chucked him in the Derwent as he always did like a drink!
    The best thing he told me was that funerals are for the living not the dead, so do what you think is right, the main participant won't complain about it.
    The quicker you fall behind, the longer you have to catch up...
  • when i mentioned this thread to my other half he brought up leaving a body to medical science. he seems to think this is free (if this is the case this could be where i'm bound if i pop off first) has anyone else ever heard of this as we have donor cards and i seem to think they might mention this and wonder if thats where he's got the idea
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