Save money, die better with a lovely funeral casket from Walmart

Talk about an efficient and cost-cutting way of burying the dead. Walmart, it turns out, is now selling caskets and other human- and pet-funeral paraphernalia on its site, Walmart.com. (Star Legacy Funeral Network is the supplier.) Costco and Amazon already sell caskets online, but it's another thing when Walmart, the nation's largest big-box retailer, gets its feet wet in the business. Most of the coffins go for less than $2,000. And though saving money and spending wisely are the name of the game these days, one would think any penny-pinched consumer would at least spend a decent amount burying their dead. Walmart is great for toilet paper and detergent, but do you really want to tell family and friends you ordered Aunt Flora a Walmart casket? Then again, my two fishes—Week in Review and Table of Contents—died last month, and O.K. fine, I flushed them down the kitchen sink. So, maybe Walmart does have a point after all. A little dignity on the cheap never hurt.

—Posted by Elaine Wong