Dying on a Budget? Try Cremation

June 25, 2008 — -- It's never too late — at least not until you're dead, that is — to do whatever it takes to save some money here and there.

But even death, as it turns out, could be the final money-making scheme for those looking to cut corners financially, whether it's by opting for a cheaper coffin or even cremation to avoid burial costs all together.

"It used to be that we'd see nine or 10 thousand-dollar funerals and we'd think nothing of it," said Mike Nicodemus, a board member of the Cremation Association of North America. "But now people are scaling back and looking at [funerals costing] six or seven thousand."

"It absolutely has to do with saving money," added Nicodemus, who is also the funeral director for his own Virginia-based Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home and Crematory.

Nicodemus told ABCNEWS.com that in his 35 years in the business he has never before seen customers so eager to find a good bargain when it comes to their funerals.

"People are looking for short-cuts in services to save money," Nicodemus said. "They might decide that there's no need to embalm because they're not having a visitation or that they don't need to buy an expensive casket."

"They still want to go ahead with services but they're looking to take a cheaper way out, definitely," he added.

On average, cremation can cost $4,500 less than a burial service because it eliminates the need for a casket and a vault, as well as the pricey fees for opening and closing the burial site, Nicodemus said

The drastic price difference, he said, is one reason the rate of cremations has risen in the past few years.

"Right now, the national rate of cremation is 35 percent," Nicodemus said. "Ten years ago it was 20 percent at my company and now it's 45 percent."

"A lot of that change is driven by the economy," he said, adding that one family he's working with decided on an entirely different — and less expansive — burial plan for their mother than they had for their father.