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Cost of Cremation: An Ultimate Guide

Did you know that more than 8,000 people die in the United States every day? When a person dies, the deceased’s relatives have to choose to either bury the body or cremate the body.  In this article we will discuss the cost of cremation.

These days, cremation is becoming a more and more popular option instead of burial. Why might this be, you ask? It all has to do with the cost of cremation.

Traditional burials can be very expensive.

Not only do you have to pay for the funeral service, but you also need to pay to embalm the body, the casket, the funeral arrangements, the plot of land in which to bury the body, and so on. If you are on a tight budget, all this may not be feasible for you.

For that reason, cremation exists. Cremation is a much more flexible and affordable option when it comes to body disposition. By choosing cremation, you can focus more on remembering your loved one than your finances.

Keep reading to learn more about the average cost of cremation.

What Is Cremation?

Cremation is a form of body disposition in which the body of the deceased is burned and turned to ashes. However, you will find that the cremation process is not as simple as turning a body into ashes. In order to follow through with the cremation process in the correct way, there are a few more important steps.

When a body is to be cremated, it is placed in a cremation chamber. This cremation chamber is an industrial furnace that can reach very high temperatures, usually more than 1,000 degrees. These high temperatures are important for turning a body into ashes.

But the cremated remains of a body, known as cremains, are not just ashes.

When a body goes through the cremation process at such high temperatures, it becomes a mix of basic chemicals such as minerals, gases, and ash. When the cremation process is over, the cremains will mostly consist of fragments.

How do you go from fragments to the soft, powdery ash that you usually find in burial urns? After the cremation process, the remaining fragments go through a special processing machine. This machine vibrates the cremated remains with enough force to break up the fragments.

After some time, the remains will turn into powdery ash.

This ash is ideal if you want to scatter it somewhere outside. If not, the ashes can still rest safely inside an urn. Handling human ashes is not a health hazard so you don’t need to worry about any safety risks.

You also don’t need to worry about your loved one’s ashes getting mixed with the ashes of another person. That’s because crematories are only allowed to cremate one person at a time. Also, the crematory workers clean the remains out of the furnace before cremating another body.

Why Do People Choose Cremation?

The cost of cremation vs burial is one of the main reasons people choose to cremate a body. After all, when someone close to you dies, the last thing you want to think about is money. This is especially true if you are already experiencing financial difficulties.

Thinking about the cost of a burial plot, a casket, the funeral arrangements, the memorial service, and so on can be very stressful. This stress would only pile on top of the stress you are already feeling from the loss of your loved one. Fortunately, you can strip away some of this stress when you opt for cremation rather than burial.

That’s because when it comes to the cost of a cremation, you will find that it is much cheaper compared to the cost of a traditional burial.

Some burials, especially large ones, can cost several thousands of dollars. Some might even end up being tens of thousands of dollars.

Cremation, on the other hand, is usually around a thousand dollars. As you can imagine, these price differences can make a huge difference in your life. However, the exact cost of cremations will depend on what kind of cremation you want to pay for.

This is because some types of cremations are more expensive than others. But the reasons for choosing cremation services go beyond financial concerns. For example, cremation is a much more flexible process compared to traditional burial.

When you choose cremation, you don’t have to bury the urn in a cemetery plot if you don’t want to. Instead, you can choose to scatter the ashes somewhere outside such as into the ocean. This type of freedom can be very liberating and it can give you a sense of closure as well.

The Cost of Direct Cremation

Direct cremation is the cheapest form of cremation available. Direct cremation is similar to traditional cremation, but there are a few important differences. For example, when it comes to direct cremation, there will not be an opportunity to view the body one last time before it goes through the cremation process.

This may not be desirable if you and your family want to view the body. Viewing the body can give you a sense of closure and it can help you feel more at peace. Direct cremation does not allow for viewing because there is no embalming process involved.

To embalm a body is to preserve the body to a certain extent. By embalming a body, you will have time to view your loved one before the body’s tissues start to break down too much. Since direct cremation does not involve the embalming process, the body will need to go straight to the cremation chamber as soon as possible.

Embalming can be an expensive process, and because of that, you can save a few hundred dollars by skipping it. For that reason, the cost of direct cremation tends to be around $1,000. However, this price may vary by a hundred dollars or two depending on a variety of factors.

For example, you will still need to pay for certain important costs for direct cremation. These costs include the fees for transporting the corpse to the crematory, the fees to cremate the body itself, and the cost of any documents you may need such as the death certificate. Even so, when you add up all of these fees, the final cost is still much cheaper than a traditional burial.

In fact, you could even save thousands of dollars by choosing cremation over burial.

Understanding the Cost of Traditional Cremation

Traditional cremation is a bit more expensive than a direct cremation, but not by much. Direct cremation is ideal if you are on a very tight budget and can’t afford anything more. Traditional cremation, on the other hand, is best if you can spend a bit of extra money and want to view your loved one’s body before it goes through the cremation process.

However, in order to view the body, the body will first need to go through the embalming process. The cost of the embalming process itself can vary according to a few different factors. In some cases, it can be as low as a couple of hundred dollars.

In other cases, it may be as much as a thousand dollars. The cost to embalm a body tends to be higher if there is some trauma or injury to the body. That’s because physical injuries can make it more difficult to embalm the body.

Besides the embalming process, the funeral workers will also prepare the body for viewing. This means that the workers will dress the body and possibly apply makeup to make the body look as it did in life. If the body did have any injuries, most of them should be covered up by makeup.

This will make the viewing more comfortable for you and the rest of your family. The average cost of cremation in Texas tends to be around $2,000. While this is more expensive than a direct cremation, you still may prefer this option because it will give you the chance to see your loved one for one final time before the cremation process.

It will also give you more time to plan a memorial service for when the cremation is over and the cremated remains get sent to you.

The Cost of Cremation and a Funeral Service

Most people want to have some kind of a memorial or funeral service after the cremation process is over. That way, you can properly honor and remember your loved one. Holding a funeral service can also give you and your family a sense of closure.

However, the cost of a cremation funeral will be more expensive than the cost of cremating a body alone. The cost of a funeral service will vary depending on what kind of service you want to hold. It will also vary according to whether or not you want to work with a funeral home to organize the service.

Planning a service can be much easier when working with a funeral home.

That’s because the funeral directors know all about the details of planning a funeral service and much of the stress of the responsibility will be taken from your shoulders. However, paying for the services and advice of a funeral director will cost you extra.

You might end up paying between a thousand and several thousand dollars not only for the funeral service itself but also for the other services that are necessary to make the funeral service possible. For example, you will need to pay for the fees to transport the remains and the fees for the organization of funeral paperwork.

By paying funeral home employees to deal with these tasks for you, you can free up some of your own time so you can focus on other things. However, you will need to plan ahead and fit these extra costs into your budget. Otherwise, you might have to deal with a hole in your wallet that you didn’t plan for.

Cost of Cremation and Extra Service Costs to Be Aware Of

As mentioned before, the cost of cremating a body tends to range between $1,000 and $2,000. However, this price range may change if you don’t take into account some extra cremation and service costs. For example, there is the cost of the cremation casket.

The cremation casket is a casket that a body is placed in to be cremated. This box is biodegradable and will burn away in the cremation chamber along with the body. Its function is to encase the body and keep the cremated remains in one place.

The cremation casket alone can cost as much as $1,000, although it may be less in some areas.

While the cost of a cremation casket is much more affordable than a burial casket, it can still punch a hole in your budget if you don’t plan for it. If you plan on viewing the body before cremating it, you may also need to consider the cost of renting a casket for the viewing.

Renting a casket tends not to be all that expensive and you might only need to spend a few hundred dollars on it. However, in some cases, you may spend as much as a thousand dollars for certain caskets. Also, don’t forget the cost of an urn.

There is, of course, also the cost of certain funeral arrangements such as bouquets and other decorations.

Consider the Cost of Cremation Before Making a Choice

Traditional burials can be very expensive and they can cause a lot of stress both on your mind and your budget. The cost of cremation, on the other hand, is much more affordable. Besides that, cremation is a much more flexible option when it comes to body disposition.

If you are interested in cremation services, don’t hesitate to contact us here.

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