When pre-planning your funeral, one of the major decisions you'll make is whether to have your body buried or cremated. One reason people choose cremation services is because they have better control over the funeral costs. Here are some of the ways that cremation can reduce the overall cost of your funeral.

The Three Key Areas Where You Can Save

The cremation option impacts decisions in three areas:

• How your physical body is managed after your passing.
• The container in which your remains will be stored.
• The final disposition of your remains.

Depending on the choices you make in these areas, you can reduce your funeral costs by being cremated.

Management of Your Physical Body

If you choose direct cremation, then your body will be cremated as soon as possible after you have died. With a full-body burial, your body will be kept in a cool area until the funeral home can get to it to embalm the body. If you have a viewing service with an open casket, you'll also need some amount of restoration. You'll have to purchase or rent a casket for the viewing. All of these add to the expense of the funeral over a direct cremation.

The Container for Your Remains

When you are cremated, your ashes, referred to as cremains, can be returned to your family in a simple fiberboard box. Or you can choose from a number of ornamental urns made of metal, stone or crystal glass. A full-body burial requires a casket, which can be made of wood or metal. Depending on the material you select for the casket, it will be much more expensive that an urn.

The Final Management of Your Remains

Cremation gives you several less expensive options than a full-body burial. Your family can scatter your cremains over a favorite location, which may cost nothing at all. You also won't need an urn, if your cremains are to be scattered.

You can choose to be buried in a portion of the cemetery set aside for smaller plots that accommodate cremains. You'll also not need an urn if you choose this.

Finally, you could elect to have your cremains stored in an urn and placed in a columbarium niche.

With a full-body burial, you'll be required to purchase a standard sized cemetery plot. Some locations require you to also purchase a concrete burial vault, which is placed in the ground first before your casket is lowered into the grave. To learn more, speak with a business like J Allen Hooper Funeral Chapel.