You do not have to use a funeral home at all. If you work directly with the crematorium, you can save even thousands of dollars. It cost about 1100 dollars to go direct. I little more secretarial type work will have to be done yourself, but it is certainly not worth a couple grande to have someone else do it. If you have a document that contains all the info needed to fill out a death certificate, write your own obituary, leave a legal will and financial information at least available if not in order and in the green, and tell someone what you would like to have at your service, then it will be a piece of cake, no offense, for the appointed responsible party that is to care for you after your gone. You can even just have a bank account, at a bank other then your normal bank , that you have a trusted individuals name on and keep the estimated costs in it. I planned a lovely cremation and memorial service with about 100 attendees for only a Little over 2 grande including the urn and flowers! Took research, leg work and the help of ordering online and the help of my church. If you do use a funeral home, they are required by law to use any urn or casket you have sent to them if you order something for less money online and they are required by law to tell you if a cost of any part of the package is unnecessary.