Options when there is no money for funeral

You seem to be overly concerned about what your sister thinks and will want. You need to decide for yourself what happens, be that your body goes to research or you have a funeral that you can save towards now. If you decide on a funeral, start a savings account, write/type up your wishes, and tell your sister where the information is filed, so its easily accessible to her if/when you die before her. If you decide to donate your body then do the paperwork and tell your sister after its all sorted.

My father has his plot in the graveyard ready, no headstone but has the surround and stone on it etc. Sometimes he'd be out tending to his own father's grave and he'd say, "right, time to go and clean my own grave" and he'd head across to his own, pull weeds and pick up leaves, give the surround a wash etc. It's kind of amusing.

You may be over thinking the whole thing. There is a 50/50 chance you may outlive your sister so take this fact into consideration when making your will, funeral arrangments etc. Start saving a little every week and have this specific account set up so that your next of kin have easy access to the funds when the time comes. The Dept. of Social Welfare will pay a least €2,000.00 grant towards your funeral expenses if your next of kin are not in a financial position to pay - that's a great help so if you have say €4,000.00 saved you have nothing to worry about. To save some euros you can leave some specific instructions like no hired in musicians at mass, use CD's instead, no 'afters' at the local hotel / pub, no expensive headstone, go for the cheapest MDF coffin, etc.

Have a chat with your local Co. Council about the cost of a single plot in your local graveyard - in case you decide at the last minute to provide the earth worms with some nourishment ! You may be able to book a specific plot by paying a deposit and the remainder later. Once you have all arrangements made to the best of your ability, put it to the back of your mind and enjoy life and make the most of it - and remember as we're only here for a short time it should be for a good time.

I agree 100%, they have families over a barrel. Not me, I'm still young and healthy so its a ways off hopefully. I'm not religious so no church for me, I will buy a plot in Wexford for 950 and a biodegradable coffin for a few hundred. With the opening fees (450)I think I could do it all in for und 2k. My family live in Dublin so they won't get to visit as often which I like, I'd want people to get on with their lives. A trip to Wexford a couple of times a year will be good for them.They bury you 4ft down so the organisms and flora process is easier, I like the idea of my remains feeding a tree or plants.