Funeral-related expenses have tripled over the past 25 years to upwards of $6,000 per ceremony, leaving many families struggling to afford the cost of burying a loved one. Here is what the average family spends on a funeral:
- Graveside catering: $3,000
- Rights to Psalm 118: $75
- Urn with “#1 Dad” engraved on side: $400
- Embalming: $99 per limb
- Fee for nurse to perform last minute pulse check before sealing casket lid: $5
- Brother’s speaking fee: $400
- Electric anti-gopher fence: $699
- Extra-brawny pallbearers capable of lifting 310-pound corpse: $15 per hour
- Paying off the mistress: $10,000
- Closure: $2,482.30
