Being recently reminded of my mortality, it’s time for me to plan for disposal of my body. I do not believe in an afterlife; I believe that upon my death, this body will have no more significance than road kill (it barely does while I’m alive). My partner feels the same way, so we’re both about to make plans for disposal of our bodies, if only for the sake of our “next of kin.” So what’s the absolute bare-bones cheapest way to dispose of the bodies . . . without the law coming down on our families?
I worked for a funeral home one very memorable summer. Their cheapest option was for pre-paid cremation. IIRC, it was $600 or so. It’s also a huge relief for the family when the deceased has all their funeral plans already taken care of - no ‘but what would dear aunt Jane have wanted?’ and no reams of paperwork.
If it doesn’t make you queasy, there are lots of places to donate your body to science and/or medical students. I’m assuming those are free. 
Probably cremated, then stacked in a rack in a municipal columbarium.
Carnivorous pets.
BioGIft. Donating your body to science incurs no cost for you or your family.
Call Jimmy
347 572-8371
Google “Low Cost Cremations” and your area. I put in Ohio, and came up with this for $450.
StG
Full-body donation. It’s free, your survivors don’t have to go to any trouble, and you are doing some good for Humanity. Especially handy if you don’t have any spares anybody wants, like if you die old or worn out.
I plan to donate whatever is left of me. My family knows this, but I should probably do the paperwork now. I like the idea of being useful after I’m dead.
Is it possible to be an organ donor, then leave the rest for science?
Thirding body donation. The Cleveland Clinic has a body donation program. We worked with them when my MIL died. My sister worked with MedCure when my brother died. Zero cost to us in both instances. MedCure has very few restrictions on donation and often “part out” the body, so to speak, so prior organ donation would not be an issue.
I want to donate my body to science, mostly for the reason of being cheap. I live near Duke so I looked into their body donation program and it is free but you have to pay a funeral home to transport the body to them, that’s like $200!
There are also a few universities that have departments that need bodies to decompose in the woods so they can study them while they do so…more info for the CSI folks and such. I would be into that, again, they usually want you to pay for transport.
I think it is. It’s what I’d like to do. So I have an organ donor card & I’m registered, and then I’d like to donate the rest to science. AFAIK they are separate systems. The organs will come out first, and then they look into what you wanted to do with the remains.
They could at the very least still look at your brain, I presume. And that is if they even use your organs. I believe it is pretty rare that you have the right kind of death for your organs to be useful, have good organs and also have a match. They probably won’t use much, if anything.
One thing I rather like the thought of is being in those tests to see how bodies decompose under different conditions. You just lie out in the open on the forest floor and get eaten by bugs. 
But I don’t really mind what they do, I’d just like to be of some use.
If it was possible…
For the Body Farm, they’ll pick up within Tennessee and within 100 miles of Knoxville at no cost to you. If you have HIV, TB, MRSA or and form of hepatitis they won’t take you.
StG
[QUOTE=panache45]
I believe that upon my death, this body will have no more significance than road kill (it barely does while I’m alive). My partner feels the same way
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*** hugs panache45 ***
Yet another vote for scientific donation. My brother wanted his body to go to the Body Farm once the cancer took him away, but we learned about the whole transport thing too late and couldn’t organize it within the week. Ultimately, we registered him with MedCure before he died. They were super efficient, it took one phone call and they were there within an hour. Didn’t cost a cent and saved us plenty of grief in an already miserable situation.
Out of curiosity, I looked up Texas state law once. You can be buried on private land with no fuss if:
- it’s in an unincorporated part of the state (not within city limits)
- it’s not a cemetery
I think they may have some rules about the hole being six feet deep, but they didn’t say anything about a casket or concrete or anything.
You could always call this guy (Youtube meme double warning) for a quote, but it is probably more than the $200 option up thread.
I think the organ donation + body to science option should be one of the cheapest.
Do you or anyone you know own pigs?