How to reduce funeral costs

Funeral costs aren't fixed, and families have more control over them than most people realize going in. A few practical, professional steps — most of them about asking the right questions rather than cutting corners — can make a meaningful difference.

Compare providers, and know your rights

Funeral homes are required under the FTC Funeral Rule, a federal consumer protection regulation, to give you an itemized, written price list — called a General Price List — and to let you choose only the specific goods and services you actually want, rather than requiring a bundled package. Not every provider prices things the same way, and you're entitled to that price list before you commit to anything. Calling more than one funeral home and comparing their written price lists side by side is one of the simplest ways to avoid paying for more than you need.

Consider direct cremation or direct burial

Skipping embalming and a formal viewing — through direct cremation or direct burial — removes several of the costliest steps in a traditional funeral, while still allowing the family to hold a separate memorial or celebration of life afterward, on their own schedule. For families focused on keeping costs manageable without giving up a meaningful goodbye, this is often the single biggest lever available.

Buy a casket from a third party

Under the same FTC Funeral Rule, a funeral home is required to accept a casket you purchase from an outside seller and can't charge you an extra handling fee for using one. Caskets purchased directly from a third party are often priced differently than what a funeral home offers on-site, so it's worth asking whether this option makes sense before defaulting to whatever the funeral home has on the floor.

Consider a simpler service, and celebrate separately

A large, formal service isn't the only way to honor someone. A smaller, simpler service — or none at all at the time of burial — paired with a separate celebration of life planned later, with more time and less pressure, can meaningfully reduce cost without reducing how meaningful the send-off is.

Ask about veteran burial benefits

If the person who died served in the military, they — and often their spouse — may be eligible for federal burial benefits that can offset part of the cost, regardless of which state they lived in. Eligibility and specifics vary, so it's worth asking directly; our state-by-state coverage guide includes what to look for.

Why final expense insurance still matters, even with a simple plan

None of this planning eliminates cost entirely, and it doesn't account for everything else that tends to show up around a death — from final medical bills to the other costs most families don't plan for in advance. Even a modest, carefully planned service can be paired with unexpected expenses, which is exactly the gap a professionally arranged final expense policy is built to cover: cash paid directly to your family, usable for whatever actually comes up. See the hidden costs of dying for the full picture.