Well, Mick, congratulations for the High-Tech !  

Europe introduced GSM phones with text messaging as early as 1992, and we've never looked back!

I have no idea how things work in the Sates, here in the Old World you BUY the phone and get a "rechargeable, pay-as-you-call" SIM Card.

That's right, "Rechargeable" because you charge (credit) a certain amount of money any time you like, and are charged only when you place a call, never when you are on the receiving end.
This means the $20 you "recharged" may last you a few days, or a few months.

"Charges" may last from 10 months to one full year (365 days from the day you last recharged) and are cumulative, meaning if you have $5 credit and charge $20, your overall total $25 will last you another full 10/12 months.

The current average price for a call is around 10-15 Eurocents (12-20 cents of a US$) per minute; some may have very cheap costs for calling other phones of your specific provider, or offer "family profiles"; others offer the same cost whomever you call, be it a land line or any cellphone provider.

In my case, I pay 17 Eurocents/minute whomever I call, any time of the day or night. Overall quite good.

mpescatori wrote on 05/25/10 at 08:07:28:

All I pay is $14 a month. as many minutes as I want up to a 1000, and they do roll over if not used,I have three family members who are free, all the time.Weekends are free , and nights from 7pm to 7 am.,we shopped around and it's about the best we could find,it will be just fine for me I dislike using the phone because I am a little hard of hearing. I like to text,it's short and sweet.