Owen Haring Since Simple Direct Funerals began life as Purely Cremations you might have noticed a change with other Funeral Homes promotions. I started by advertising a fixed price that clearly showed all the services (which covered everything a family needed for a cremation). This wasn’t the case before I started, when Funeral Homes didn’t advertise their … Read more
Death is scary – well it can be for many people; even the thought of it. We don’t really like talking about death. It is foreign and something most people don’t have to deal with often. However you might be surprised how talkative people can get when the subject comes up when I tell them … Read more
I’ve said this before – I got into the funeral business because I saw two things I thought I could do better than what was on offer. The first was to reduce the high prices families paid who just wanted a simple straightforward funeral – usually a direct or private cremation. Before I started Funeral … Read more
I don’t know how many people have started or succeeded in running a small business. I never thought I would – but here I am – over three years later and still going strong. One of the reasons I started my own business was because the only jobs I could get after being made redundant … Read more
Grief is a very real and important aspect of life. Although we prefer to avoid it, grief has vital role for each person.
NZ has gone through some pretty hard times lately. How do we cope when we lose so much?
Life has moments of uncertainty and we cope with it one way or another. A healthy approach
My experience with Maori funerals is incredibly limited. So this is simply some of the things I discovered for myself. But first I should go back to how I first encountered a funeral. Like most people it was a grandparent who died when I was around ten years old. I never saw her and there … Read more
The cost of living is on the news a lot and probably in the minds of many families in New Zealand and also overseas. The essentials at the supermarket, petrol and most things continue to rise and the government and Reserve Bank seem powerless to stop this trend. And it feels like we have very … Read more
Is it possible to do a funeral yourself… well not for yourself, but for someone else – usually a family member? The thought is that there is definite cost saving benefits by doing this and if the funeral is a direct cremation, well how hard can it be? The first thing is that you can … Read more
Here are the dogs of SDF. They are basically unpaid employees with very limited ability – besides barking at people every now and then. Holly has been with me from the beginning and is the most snuggliest of dogs – maybe a bit too much. Harry came about a year later and he reminds me … Read more
Having a simple low-cost funeral can still be respectful and right. But be aware of funeral homes who advertise low funerals but then charge much more later.
In many ways 2022 flew by. Maybe that’s just old age catching up to me. For the armchair sports fan the woman’s rugby world cup final has to be a highlight. Also the football world cup final was pretty special too. Did we have the Olympics? I can’t remember… In politics I think Labour is … Read more
It is a well known reality that funerals can cost a lot of money – the budget blowout. Even when people wanted the simplest cheapest funeral there was still a lot to pay at the end. Part of the reason for this is the sales technique Funeral Homes have when talking with families. At a … Read more
15 things Funeral Homes don’t want you to know 1. Don’t pay in advance for a funeral. Yes, you can pre-plan. But keep the money in a separate bank account. This way you are in complete control of it. You won’t be charged fees – especially if you decide to go elsewhere. 2. Often funeral … Read more
For a long time the cost of a funeral was not something funeral companies promoted much. There was a simple reason for this – making money. Without knowing exactly what a funeral costs the family can easily be hit with up-selling and hidden costs. I’m sure there are many stories of this happening. Even with … Read more
Simple Direct Funerals started because I wanted to provide families an affordable funeral to those who wanted a direct cremation. Before I started, other funeral businesses were able to charge whatever they wanted for even the most basic of services. Then when we started things changed. They started to lower their prices too. However there … Read more