My husband and I use Tracfones and have for years with no problems. You can purchase the minutes right from the phone, online or buy cards. This tells you how much I use my phone. I put $100 on it and it last a year with minutes left to rollover. LOL!! Hubby uses his much more than I do mine so when he runs low he tells me and I purchase minutes online. I think they work great! There's also a program at Walmart where you pay $45 monthly for unlimited everything. That's what my son has and he's had no problems with his either. Hope this helps.