Who buys a funeral casket ahead of time?

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Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,316
10,814
136
Being that I'll be ... you know ... dead? I'm not overly concerned about the meat-sack I'll no longer be needing. ;)

Cremate/compost me and donate the cash it saves to children's cancer research. (seriously)
 
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Feb 25, 2011
16,907
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Now that you bring it up, I wonder what the requirements are so I could make my own ahead of time? (Should be a lot of years left, but that is one less thing for somebody else to have to worry about.)
 

brianmanahan

Lifer
Sep 2, 2006
24,419
5,852
136
No good, doesn't biodegrade. For funerals, I'm with the Muslims: wrap the body in a sheet and get it in the ground by sunset. Do the memorial service later.

i'm with the pharaohs on burial - embalm me, wrap me up like a mummy, stick me in an impenetrable mausoleum, and hopefully i'm still there 5000 years later
 
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KeithP

Diamond Member
Jun 15, 2000
5,661
199
106
Buy ahead of time as a hedge against inflation? Plus, you can use it for a halloween decoration each year until the intended has died. Sounds like a win to me!

-kp
 
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VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,552
10,171
126
Buy ahead of time as a hedge against inflation? Plus, you can use it for a halloween decoration each year until the intended has died. Sounds like a win to me!
Buy a metal one, cushioned, to sleep in the local homeless park. They won't steal that one like they'd steal a tent.
 

highland145

Lifer
Oct 12, 2009
43,935
6,310
136
Now that you bring it up, I wonder what the requirements are so I could make my own ahead of time? (Should be a lot of years left, but that is one less thing for somebody else to have to worry about.)
Depends on the state but here, SC, you can designate a piece of your land a cemetary. This is what my Bro intends and to be buried naked except for being wrapped in burlap. No lie.

I hope his butt itches. 😀
 

nutxo

Diamond Member
May 20, 2001
6,789
467
126
I told my family spend nothing. I have already taken care of a pre approval to be buried at the VA cemetery. I told my boy to make sure no one spends money on a casket. Buy the 50 dollar box and if he isn't okay with that than make me a pine box. No embalming. Just put me in the ground.

I had to deal with a funeral home when my mom died. These guys are worse than used car salesman with their guilt trips.
 

GodisanAtheist

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2006
7,150
7,645
136
i'm with the pharaohs on burial - embalm me, wrap me up like a mummy, stick me in an impenetrable mausoleum, and hopefully i'm still there 5000 years later

-I'm with all carbon based life forms on the planet: use my biomass to enrich yourselves, return me to nature, let me flow back into the natural system which bore me.

From ashes to ashes. From dust to dust.
 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
70,210
28,915
136
i'm with the pharaohs on burial - embalm me, wrap me up like a mummy, stick me in an impenetrable mausoleum, and hopefully i'm still there 5000 years later
That's what my parents did except a casket instead of a mummy wrap. They even took us to see their mausoleum slots before they died. Upon seeing their mausoleum, the word that kept coming to mind was, "swank". It was nicer than most hotels I've stayed at. I was a respectful son and didn't tell them that if if were up to me, I'd dig a ditch next to the mausoleum, bulldoze the whole thing into the hole, and bury everybody in the ground where they belong. I had the same feeling when visiting the crypts of English cathedrals, "where is Jim Brown with his flame thrower when you need him?"
 

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
59,239
13,840
136
Consumerists to the very end, and beyond.
I'm on the composting plan, you want to visit my grave, just walk into the forest and have a chin-wag with a tree. Not a big leaf maple, they can suck it, maybe a nice Western Hemlock.
 
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Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
38,409
8,698
136
People buy plots in cemeteries ahead of time. If a casket is in the package, there you are.
 

K1052

Elite Member
Aug 21, 2003
48,084
37,269
136
If you want a traditional funeral and burial it makes sense to plan ahead rather than be taken advantage of. A lot of people don't like to think about the inevitable and actively avoid doing so. Funeral homes often prey upon this.

My husband knows my wishes and spending a fortune on my corpse is not among them. Take me to get cremated, dump me in an urn (which I'll probably end up buying), and have a reception at a decent restaurant. That's it.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
38,409
8,698
136
We have a sizable family plot bought by my great grandfather. I won't be interred there though.

I prefer to haunt my husband from an urn in the living room. :cool:
:D My grandfather did that big plot thing. AFAIK, I wasn't included. Dunno.
 
Last edited:
Feb 25, 2011
16,907
1,552
126
Depends on the state but here, SC, you can designate a piece of your land a cemetary. This is what my Bro intends and to be buried naked except for being wrapped in burlap. No lie.

I hope his butt itches. 😀
I actually bought a plot in the family cemetery when we buried my brother. I guess that means I should be looking up Illinois laws, though, not Minnesota. Good catch.

It's a double-plot if anybody's interested. *wink*
 

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
22,382
5,347
146
I have simple instructions.
Cremate me and put my ashes in the cascades, sort of vague location. " over that way".
 
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iCyborg

Golden Member
Aug 8, 2008
1,330
56
91
Another practice I find morbid - people who add their name to a gravestone while still alive, the year of death to be added later.
Like "Joe Smith 1960 - "
I don't wanna be visiting a cemetery and seeing my name.:neutral: