If your great-aunt is anything like mine, she might have said to skip the frills and keep it simple. And then Great-Aunt Hilda had another cigarette. If your family is anything like mine, they didn’t abide by Hilda’s wishes. She got all the frills; she would have hated it. In Hilda’s day, there was no such thing as the option to pre-purchase a casket online and pre-planning your own funeral. But there is now.
Why Pre-Purchase a Casket?
There are many reasons why someone would want to pre-purchase a casket. For example, it’s more affordable. Some people like being prepared or they know what they wan. Others really want to want to save their family money, or all of the above. Some pre-purchasers are a lot like Hilda. They hate the color lavender because it makes them look washed-out. So, they want to avoid being buried in a lavender casket at all costs.
Even if you don’t have an aversion to any particular color, here are some reasons why you may want to pre-purchase a casket:
- It’s the financially responsible thing to do – As time goes on, inflation will raise the prices on pretty much everything. Candy at the drugstore has gone from costing pennies to costing dollars. Caskets will get more expensive too. When you pre-purchase a casket, you can lock in a price before inflation. This could save you and your family thousands of dollars down the line.
- Life is unpredictable – The COVID-19 pandemic this year has taught us that life is unpredictable. We never know what will be thrown at us next. This is not to say that you should live everyday like it is your last. That would not be very fiscally responsible. It just means that there are benefits to being prepared no matter what happens in the coming years.
- There are some things that other people can’t buy for you – Have you ever had someone try to pick out shoes or appliances or a car for you? Then you look at their selection and think that it is all wrong. It is not what you would have picked at all. Buying a casket is the same: it’s hard to pick one out for other people. A casket is one of those highly personal choices – like a mattress. It is best if you pick one out for yourself. That way, you can save your family from having to make those tough choices.
- It is how you get what you want – Some families have religious or political differences. This means that your wishes may be different than what your children, spouse, parents, or siblings might want for you. In some cases, disagreements over funeral planning can catalyze family estrangements and long-running feuds. The best solution is to pre-plan your own funeral. That way, it will be clear to everyone that your wishes are non-negotiable. Everyone must follow through with your plan without fighting about it.
- It is one less thing to worry about – Have you ever noticed how many older relatives just really like to give things away? Whether you ended up with your great-aunt’s ash trays, her china, or her dresser, there is a reason for the sudden rush to minimize. Many older people realize that their time is coming and feel the need to get things in order. For some people, they want to finalize their will; others are trying to parse out their personal items to ensure the safety of family heirlooms. Either way, there is a lot to worry about when you hit that age. But if you have already pre-purchased a casket, then you have one less thing to worry about.
How Does It Work To Buy a Casket Online?
Don’t worry, it is nothing like buying a car. There are no pushy sales people, no confusing terminology, no credit check, and no ever-changing numbers on how much you will pay. If you can handle buying a new pair of shoes from an online store, then buying a casket online will be easy for you.
Here’s How:
Step 1: Go to Preneed.Overnightcaskets.com.
Step 2: Browse the catalog of affordable caskets and pick your favorite. If terms like “gauge” and “veneer wood” are all Greek to you, then check out this guide to all the funeral lingo that you need to know.
Step 3: Add your chosen casket to your cart and proceed to checkout. The e-commerce website should be easy to use, but if you run into any snags, then contact Overnight Caskets right away.
Step 4: The checkout process does involve filling out some forms by providing a delivery address and your beneficiary’s details. If you don’t know what future address to have the casket sent to, don’t worry, that part can be filled in later.
Step 5: Once the purchase is finalized, you will be emailed a copy of your receipt along with the details that your beneficiary will need to know.
Step 6: Bring it up with your relatives constantly. Or, at least make sure that your family knows that you pre-purchased a casket. It would be less than ideal if your family pays for a funeral, goes to clean out your house, and only then finds the information that you had already pre-paid for a casket. Even if such conversations are considered morbid in your family, don’t keep it a secret.
Step 7: Keep your paperwork safe and file it away with your other important documents.
Step 8: When the time comes, someone will need to contact Overnight Caskets and finalize the address of where the casket should be sent. Whether it is a home funeral or a service in a funeral home, Overnight Caskets guarantees fast shipping and a speedy delivery.
Have It Your Way: Perks of Pre-Planning
If my Great-Aunt Hilda had had her way, she would have been buried in the backyard wearing her favorite sundress and every last broach that she had ever owned. She would have wanted a pack of cigarettes in one pocket, her autographed baseball in the other, and for her hands to be clutching her recipe books. It is not because she necessarily liked cooking, but because she always said that people could have her blue ribbon award winning pie recipe “over my dead body.”
My Great-Uncle Charles, on the other hand, wanted a Viking-style funeral. Sadly, Viking funerals are not exactly allowed in the US. What Charles and Hilda got was a frilly funeral, a massive headstone, and a few thousand dollars in debt for their children to pay off.
The fact of the matter is that families are notorious for spending lots of money on funerals as a means of coping with their guilt. It’s as Anne Frank said: “Dead people receive more flowers than the living ones because regret is stronger than gratitude.” The number one perk of pre-planning your own funeral and pre-purchasing a casket is that you can help avoid that phenomenon entirely.
You have the power to steer clear of a lavender casket, pick out something that you actually like, and save thousands of dollars on funeral expenses. Not only will your family members be saved from the cost, they will also get to experience a funeral that is truely “what you would have wanted.”
You Save Money When You Pre-Purchase a Casket
With the money that your family saves on funeral expenses when you pre-purchase a casket online, they can put towards other things like:
- Paying a portion of college tuition, buying textbooks, or funding classes for a young adult in the family.
- Taking a family trip.
- Renovating the house to finally get rid of that awful wallpaper that everyone secretly hated.
- Car repairs or buying a new vehicle to ensure everyone’s safety on the road.
- Funding a memorial bench in a local park that everyone in the community can enjoy.
- Contributing to a scholarship or bail fund to pay it forward.
- Paying for part of a wedding for a member of the family, which is an event that everyone can enjoy.
- Paying for adoption fees to allow a couple you know to adopt.
- Using the money saved to help pay down existing debt in the family to allow for better financial security.
Nowadays, many people are steering away from the traditional, expensive funeral. They are asking that their lives be celebrated in more personal and influential ways. Buying a casket online is part of this trend. Unlike traditional funeral planning – which requires a trip to the funeral home, pushy sales tactics, and pressure to buy expensive packages – now you have the option of quickly and easily buying a casket online and having it delivered. Then, with the casket taken care of, you have options for planning your own unique and affordable funeral.
Start Here: Pre-Purchase a Casket
Funeral pre-planning is one of those things that it is very easy to put off. The task can seem huge and confusing, which makes you scared to even start it. The trick to beat this form of procrastination is to start with small chunks. You don’t have to plan everything at once. Just start something and you’ll figure out the rest of the details as you go.
Here is the first question that you need to ask: do you want to be buried or cremated?
This will determine what your funeral budget should be. It will also give you an idea of what type of casket you will need to buy. Once you have made that decision, the next step is to start thinking about pre-purchasing a casket.
Start HERE by browsing Overnight Casket’s selection of affordable, high-quality caskets. If you have any questions, please contact us by email, phone, or chatbot.
For more information, check out these other helpful articles: