My sister died Wednesday night. She was only 52. She had no insurance, no assets. She has been disabled for many years. I paid for her funeral expenses (cremation and urn internment). I also paid some lodging and transportation costs for her children. I hosted an after funeral dinner. The total cost was around $5000. I feel very blessed that our lifestyle of saving and careful spending allowed me to do that. I expected that it would all be on me whenever the time came so I budgeted for that like we budget for every large expense. With all the other emotional and physical stress, it was nice to walk into the funeral home, make the arrangements and write a check for the full amount. I am blessed.
