Guides
Practical, unhurried explanations of what a funeral costs and what you are entitled to refuse — each one built from the 35 real funeral home price lists we have collected, with every figure linked to its source.
How Much Does a Funeral Cost?
What a funeral really costs, itemized from real funeral home price lists we collected ourselves — plus what isn’t included, what you can refuse to pay for, and how much the same service varies across one city.
Read the guideCremation Cost: A Complete Breakdown
What a cremation really costs, from direct cremation to a full service with cremation instead of burial — what the quoted price includes, what it leaves out, and why the same cremation varies several-fold within one city.
Read the guideDirect Cremation: The Cheapest Option Explained
Who actually performs a direct cremation, the paperwork it requires, the specific line to check for hidden markups, and the situations — religious, legal, or personal — where it is not the right choice.
Read the guide
Still being written
We would rather publish one guide that is genuinely useful than ten that restate the same industry average. These are next:
- Burial vs cremation costs compared
- How to pay for a funeral with no money
- Who legally pays for a funeral?
- Prepaid funeral plans vs final expense insurance
- Your rights under the FTC Funeral Rule
- Veterans’ funeral and burial benefits
- What to do when someone dies: a checklist