I know of some families who were very poor, didn't have life insurance, and had $9K funeral expenses. And no, nothing was extravagant. Just your average funeral. Funerals are simply overpriced.

Are cremations really cheaper than a regular cheap funeral in a pine box casket? Isn't there a cheaper BURIAL option, with no "funeral home" rental and all that? That's messed up.

Cremations take a ton of fuel to burn up a human body. That's gotta cost too.

I wonder if there's cheaper burial option too, so many people die every single day and I don't really know how is it going to be possible if everyone needs a burial (most likely in a cemetery?) and how to afford it. Also I've been wondering does it go against church teaching to dig people out and turn the cemetery into something for other purposes (build houses, business, subways, etc.)? Because our society had been doing that and it made me rethink what's the purpose of a proper burial when you have no control about if your body will decompose and may get dug out after perhaps 100 years. And no, I'm not for cremation, I'm just asking questions.

What I heard -- and believe --

It is not economical to do individual cremations. The cost to build up and maintain a fire enough to incinerate a human body is HIGHER than the price they can charge for cremation. So they do several at once, and divvy up the ashes to give to the families.

BTW the bones don't incinerate per se, so those are crushed at the end. That's what you get back as "ashes".

BTW incinerate is a nice high end word, so of course it's Latin. It basically means INTO ASHES. So when something is incinerated, it is turned into ashes.

Despite some very widely spread lies *cough* h0Ɩ0h0αx *cough*, human bodies are NOT fuel, and do NOT help you "part of the way" in burning up. They take lots of fuel EVERY STEP OF THE WAY to get them burnt up. IT ALSO TAKES QUITE A WHILE PER BODY. Another thing certain "historians" fail to note.

Does anyone know whether home burial is acceptable to trad priests, or is it expected that burial should be in consecrated ground? I get that many of our ancestors were buried this way, but lots of things are not quite the same in the 21st century.

Maybe the Priests conducting the funeral and burial can consecrate the burial site before the body is placed. Those who would like to consider this option should talk to a Traditional Priests that you trust and find out more information as it is better to have all the answers ahead of time rather than leave it to your family members to figure it all out after you are dead.

After retiring from the cattle industry (I needed to move to help with my mother who was in her 90’s) I now work as an assistant for a funeral home.  I keep hearing about these $8-10 K funerals.  With our General Price List in hand I have a hard time figuring out where those numbers come from, unless they also include all cemetery expenses, lunch afterwards for everyone, and perhaps 30 days of Gregorian Masses also.  $9,000 just for the funeral home would be rather “top of the line”.  Around $5,000 would be more realistic, with full service and a nice casket.
 
As when I worked in the daily industry and people would say milk was over priced at $3.00 per gallon, now when people say “Funerals are simply overpriced” I’ll cheerfully respond “Show me the numbers for how to do it for less”.  We have 24/7 on call staff, a fleet of vehicles, three nice facilities with landscaping, most states (including WA where I am) require refrigeration capacity (we can hold about 25 and at times we are beyond that, we get creative), and etc.  I’m just saying that if someone could figure out how to offer traditional full service funeral options at a lower cost they would do well in the marketplace.  The fact that one doesn’t see that might suggest that it’s not as easy as one may think.
 
Things to do (as I have mentioned several times before, from my work experience):
1.      SHOP, and yes, ahead of time.  One of the reasons a funeral home might decide to not have more “value priced” offerings is that experience has taught them people won’t shop, research, compare and few will know that their firm may provide better value than the competition.  This removes all incentive, they might as well “run with the pact” as far as pricing goes.
2.      PLAN.  At the time of death is not a good time to be doing the shopping/research/comparing, this needs to occur ahead of time.  For example, if there is a mortuary that doesn’t have the overhead of a chapel (sometimes meaning lower prices) check with the priest to see if the viewing and Rosary can be held at church the night before the Requiem Mass rather than at the funeral home.  Let the funeral home know you will provide the crucifix for the casket and the rosary for the deceased – some funeral homes may include the cost of this merchandise in their “Catholic package” and you can save that expense.
3.      WRITE IT DOWN AND LET PEOPLE KNOW.  The best laid plans won’t mean much if those who will have charge of your final disposition don’t know about them.
4.      START SETTING SOMETHING ASIDE.  We all know we are going to die and it’s just prudent to make provision for that.  I was just thinking of the example of St. Joseph of Arimathea, who had his tomb ready ahead of time and then it was available to accommodate Our Lord (I’ve wondered if St. Joseph of Arimathea was eventually buried in it).
a.      There are relatively low cost life insurance plans, especially if started while in one’s 20’s and 30’s.
b.     Funeral homes and cemeteries offer interest free installment plans (pre-need) with modest monthly payments.  This will also usually freeze the cost at the current price rather than the price at the time of need.
 
In most states the use of a licensed mortuary isn’t required, family and friends can handle it (have a source of dry ice lined up for the shortterm preservation).  This does require research and planning, which most people are inept at or too squeamish about.  This option can greatly reduce cost.
 
One can construct a simple wood casket, for themselves or someone they know.
 
If one’s chapel doesn’t have an Altar Society or other group which provides the funeral lunch, have a potluck for this.  Almost all diocesan parishes in the U.S. provide a lunch after the funeral.  Families often make a donation toward this, but it isn’t asked for.  Traditional Mass chapels could begin the same tradition.
 
Larger towns may have a “memorial society” or discount funeral service provider in addition to traditional mortuaries.  These entities are usually focused on removal, sheltering, paperwork, direct cremation (“You call, we haul, that’s all”) but some offer preparation, funeral directing, can provide a hearse, etc.  As they don’t have chapels, staterooms for visitations, and reception halls their prices are often lower.  If there is a Catholic church where the Rosary (which can be open casket, it’s whatever the family wishes) can be held as well as the Requiem Mass the next morning, and perhaps has a hall where the lunch can be, this can save some money.   Again, sorting this out will require some PLANNING AHEAD.  Also, as these entities usually don’t do very many full-service funerals (their main biz is direct cremation), much less traditional Catholic funerals, the family will have to be prepared to “guide them”.
 
The point is, most should be able to have a traditional Catholic funeral at an affordable cost, but unless they already have a decent life insurance policy or savings it will require SHOPPING and PLANNING ahead of time.

Replying before reading the thread past the opener, I will have to go back when I have more time.

I have known two families who did their own funerals.

The first was a large family on a large property. They had given a home to a displaced priest, who'd been kicked out of his priestly work, and had since retired. He had his own little home on the property. He was a Latin Mass man, but adapted himself to the NO.

The other was a widow with about 6 children, conservative NO. The organised just about everything, from digging the hole by picks and shovels, carrying his body in the family vehicle (or a borrowed one), they chose a small cemetery in a smaller town than the one they lived in. They had a Requiem Mass offered by the parish priest of the smaller town. I would have attended if I had known, but I found out later.