Americans don’t like to talk about dying. So we’re ill prepared when it comes time to make funeral arrangements. Many of us feel “cheap” if we balk at the price of a casket. But it is time to face the facts and break the taboo if we want to keep the cost of dying from bankrupting the living.

Fortunately, we have a lot more control over funeral costs than we realize. A few simple tips can help grieving people feel in control and ensure bereavement doesn’t break the bank.

• Shop around. Funeral costs can vary by thousands of dollars in the same state. Federal regulations require funeral homes to give prices over the phone, and to give you a detailed price list the minute you ask about funeral arrangements. So, get several price lists today and compare them at home before a death in the family.

• Know the facts. Did you know embalming is almost never required by the law? Did you know no casket or vault will prevent the body from returning to the Earth, whether it’s sealed or not? Separating funeral fact from fiction helps you make reasonable choices and avoid guilt-induced overspending.

• Perhaps best of all, consider a “green funeral.” Call the Funeral Consumer Advocacy of Maine at 1-800-218-9885 or go to www.FCAMaine.net. You will learn the answer to these questions:

What is a natural burial? What is a home funeral? What is a green cemetery?

In 2008, two green (natural) cemeteries in Maine opened. Rainbow’s End is in Orrington and Cedar Brook Burial Ground is in South Limington.

• Appoint an authorized person for the paperwork. Perhaps the most time-consuming task in doing after-death arrangements without a funeral home is getting signatures on the required paperwork. Plan ahead and appoint an authorized person to do the work so the family need not run around town after a death to accomplish it all. Paperwork needed: death certificate, medical examiner’s release, permit for the disposition of human remains, cremation authorization, and a permit to transport a body.

A brochure explaining what to do is called “Authorized Persons in the State of Maine.” It is available from the Department of Human Resources in Augusta, which can be contacted at 287-3148.

Years ago, I arranged to have my body donated to the New England School of Medicine for research purposes. The last I heard, the school is no longer accepting bodies. Usually the bodies are used by the medical students. I understand they treat the bodies with respect, and sometimes wonder about the life lived by the body they are working on. Nevertheless, my only regret is I won’t be around to learn what they learned from using my body for their homework.

Part of this article was taken, by permission, from an editorial by Josh Slocum, executive director of the Funeral Consumer Alliance.

Sally Breen lives in Windham.