Cheap Funerals

When a loved one dies, comparison-shopping is probably not the first thing that comes to mind.

But the average funeral costs over $7,000. That’s a lot of money, even if we weren’t living at a time with 10% unemployment. A Hartford Courant story tackles the normally taboo topic of spending less on funerals:

“When you can’t afford the cost of living, you certainly can’t afford the cost of dying,” says Joshua Slocum, director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, a nonprofit, funeral industry watchdog organization. “We’re hearing from funeral directors and consumers that the economy is affecting choices. People are planning ahead. They’re reconsidering long-held traditions for simpler, more personalized funerals.”

What a world we live in: Who knew there was such a thing as a “funeral industry watchdog organization”?

Among the trends involving the recently deceased: The number of cremations, which are considerably less expensive than traditional burials, are way up, and discount retailers like Wal-Mart and Costco are selling caskets and urns.

Also, because land is so expensive and traditional burials are losing ground to cremations, towns are increasingly less likely to devote space to cemeteries.

Done Deal: CBS Gives Green Light to Sitcom Based on Groupon

Daily deal giant Groupon is known for its peculiar sense of humor. There was the time the site “bought” April Fool’s Day. The introduction of marketing gimmicks like the creepy virtual discount wheel called “Clicky” can only be attributed to some offbeat sense of what’s amusing. And of course, from the beginning, subscribers have been reading Groupon’s trademark absurdist, careful-not-to-offend descriptions for deals arriving in their in-boxes. The fact that there’s a network sitcom in the works featuring Groupon is apparently no joke, however.

acrowther

This trend is almost epidemic at this point. As a babyboomer who recently lost my husband, I can attest to the value of a personalized memorial/funeral. My family and I planned a beautiful ceremony that was held in our yard and attended by 200 people, many of whom told us it was a lifechanging experience.

A life is full of experiences, some good, some difficult. The end of life is the ultimate opportunity to honor this litany, and can be ritualized in many ways. Ritual has not been as integral to our lives as in many other cultures, yet it can provide the overtures and closures to our rites of passage.

The advent of more personalized funerals is a wonderful outcome of an unfortunate turn of events (economics). Our lives and deaths can become more meaningful in the process.

Adrienne Crowther
Shine On Brightly
http://www.shineonbrightly.com
http://money.blogs.time.com/2010/02/24/cheaper-coffins-and-happier-hours/ Cheaper Coffins and Happier Hours – It's Your Money – TIME.com

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