I understand that song “A Boy Named Sue.” Intimately. Though probably less violently because I’ve never had to crash a chair across someone’s teeth over it. Cheers to that! So when I met another middle-aged woman named Kyle — a first for me — it felt like Christmas and validation day all at once.
Plus, she’s into death, too. What are the chances? We met at the Funeral Consumers Alliance conference in Atlanta in June.
Turns out Kyle Sipple is awesome. She wrote a book called Create the Funeral You Want for Less. It’s user-friendly, comprehensive, and full of useful, how-to tips. It’s the result of three years of research she did after spending $5,000 more for her mother’s funeral than she needed to.
She realized that happened because she didn’t already have the knowledge and info she needed, and she sure didn’t have the time right then to learn. It’s a pipe dream to think you’ll have either the time or the emotional strength to plan a funeral at the last minute if cost is a consideration and you’re starting with no experience.
And it should always be a consideration. There’s never a good reason to spend more than you need to, especially because the typical reason is for appearance’s sake.
Kyle offers a great tip for when you’re actually sitting in the funeral home making arrangements. The pressure to look good, buy ‘dignified’ merchandise, and not appear stingy, uncaring, or tacky, is immense. The amount of money we spend has no—ZERO—correlation to how much we loved our person who’s died. Remembering that and holding fast to our budget is a huge victory. There’s a million ways to honor our loved one that don’t involve cash. There’s no shame in spending only what is in your budget, and it’s best to be prepared—because in the moment, you’re not thinking straight and you’re vulnerable.
I love having another resource for how to spend wisely on funerals. Kyle’s book can be purchased through Amazon at http://amzn.to/2akHKhC.
And I really love having another Kyle in my life.