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INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVE
Save Funeral Costs™ (SFC) was founded by SW Barratt (SW) in 2020 to save the public and Government money. It aims to educate how easy it is to save substantial money on funeral expenses. This is possible by bringing all funeral money-saving information together in one easy-to-read area. The Home page is the portal to quickly direct the reader via the drop-down menu and grid boxes to what information they need.

SW originally wrote the book entitled Save Funeral Costs (SFC) in 2020, which is available as an ebook or paperback. SFC is written from personal experience of having to arrange various family funerals. SFC was available free to view via the website in 2021. In 2022 the SFC 2nd edition was published, and the website upgraded with details of free financial help from the Government and charities along with other services.

WEBSITE UPDATES
The website has had a series of ongoing updates since 2021, which included weekly blog posts related to different aspects of where a reader may need advice, including bereavement and grief support links to established support organisations. These weekly blogs are also published on other popular social media platforms such as Quora, Medium, Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram.

FREE PDF DOWNLOAD
In 2022 SFC published a free PDF download ‘How to Save Funeral Expenses’ it includes the main points from the book and website as a quick reference guide. Push notifications and an opt-in email sign-up were also introduced in 2022, in which a reader can receive a weekly blog post.

ADDITIONAL INSPIRATION FOR SFC
SW drew inspiration for SFC from the 2018 Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) report. The report was in response to people complaining about the above-average inflation price rises and how they were struggling and getting into debt whilst paying a funeral bill. This report was welcomed by MP Frank Field, who pointed out issues within the unregulated funeral industry. In 2021 a CMA order required undertakers to make their prices clear. Quaker Social Action (QSA) which operates the Down to Earth funeral advice, provided information for the CMA investigation.

Additionally, the *SunLife cost of dying report pointed out that around 1 in 5 families* had trouble finding the money to pay for a funeral, with around 1 in 7 families* falling into debt paying for a funeral.

GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC MONEY SAVING
As SW points out:

Funeral costs can indirectly cost the Government considerable sums of money, for example:


 * If individuals or families cannot afford the cost of a funeral, they may turn to the Government for financial help.
 * If a deceased individual had outstanding debts, such as medical bills or unpaid taxes, the Government may have to cover those expenses if the estate is unable to pay them.
 * If a person dies without a will or any known next of kin, the Government may have to cover the cost of their funeral (sometimes known as a pauper's funeral) as well as the costs associated with handling their estate.
 * In Scotland funerals for children under 17 years of age are paid by the Government.

LOW-COST UNDERTAKERS
'The main savings can be made by using low-cost undertakers, which most people are unaware of. This is mainly due to the dominant marketing from the few large national funeral companies.'

Unfortunately only 11%* bereaved people shop around for the best undertaking professional fees. This is despite 28%* of the main funeral expenses being made up of professional fees.

SAVING ON FUNERAL COSTS
This lack of knowledge, coupled with the common misunderstanding that unless you spend a lot of money you are unable to give your loved one a decent ‘send off’, means that many people struggle to pay and often pay over what they need to.

THE AIM OF SFC
The main purpose of SFC is to easily direct the reader to low-cost money-saving funeral services and suppliers. Most people having to deal with organising a funeral need things to be as simple and worry-free as possible. The easy-to-follow layout explains low-cost undertakers, free financial help, home funerals, natural burials, purchasing a coffin, low-cost headstones and other cost-saving quality-related funeral services whilst retaining a quality standard of service.

THE MAIN SFC AREAS

 * Death Certificates & Free Financial Help
 * Bereavement & Illness Help
 * Disbursements
 * Cremations & Burials
 * Funeral Packages
 * Funeral Plans

Steps 1-5 outline the main cost-saving steps:

 * Step 1: Low-Cost Undertakers
 * Step 2: Funeral Service
 * Step 3: Coffins
 * Step 4: Reception/Wake
 * Step 5: Home Based Funeral

A Services & Suppliers page lists all the contact details for easy reference.

For quick reference the major areas of cost-saving which are explained in SFC are:

 * Chose direct cremation
 * Use a low-cost undertaker
 * Purchase the coffin direct and organise delivery to the undertaker
 * Spend less or not at all on flowers
 * Hold a wake/reception at home or budget venue
 * Chose cremation rather than burial
 * Avoid using limousines for mourners
 * Use a low-cost funeral plan provider
 * Use a low-cost headstone provider

SFC SITE FUNDING
In common with other advice sites SFC is funded through commissions if a reader clicks on affiliate advertising. Only quality, related affiliate advertisements that are beneficial to the user are on the website. The user does not pay any more by using an affiliate link. A single Google Adsense advert is also present on most pages.