An article in today's USA Today points out how difficult it can be to re-sell a burial spot.  Many interviewed in the article purchased lots, only to change their plans years later, and have had no interest from the public in purchasing the spaces.  For seniors and their children, this suggests an opportunity.  Either purchase space from a private individual reselling their purchase, at a discount, or wait until the need arises and purchase a discounted lot on an at-need basis.  The down-side risk to waiting, of course, is that a space will not be available in your preferred location at your time of need.  But given the heavy inventory of spaces currently for sale, it is likely that grave spaces can be acquired at significant discounts below the retail prices offered by cemeteries for pre-planning, and certainly for "at-need" planning, which is generally significantly higher than the usual price for lots.  Places to check for cemetery lots are the newspaper classified ads, and online sources like Craigs List. 

Many people who want to plan their funerals for their own piece of mind and to remove that burden from their children mistakenly believe that they must purchase  such planning from a funeral home.  A better option is to do that planning inside of a funeral trust.  The funeral trust can be funded with funds not associated with the funeral home, so that family will be free to conduct services and bury their loved ones at the place that makes the most sense at the time of death, rather than what made sense at the time planning was first done.  Funeral trusts are completely portable and are unavailable as Medicaid resources.  Funeral lots for self and immediate family are likewise exempt from Medicaid.