I have very little use for talking on any phone but Bet said I had to have a cell phone. I bought a cheap used Motorola unlocked Quad band and bought an ATT pay as you go plan & SIM. I bought a LIME sime several years ago to use when in Jamaica.
We have been going to Jamaica once a year. A few weeks before we go I E-TOP up my Lime SIM with US $5.00 to test if it is still active. Then put the SIM in the phone. Within an hour I get message on the Lime SIM that the top up was successfull. Then just before we leave I add some more to it. When we get on the plane to head back home I take the Lime SIM out and store it away till next trip. I do not add minutes at all the rest of the year and it is still good to go next year.
I just did the E-Top test for our Feb trip and sure enough it was still active. I don't have to worry it from when we leave Ja till just before we return.
As far as price per minute of call etc... we don't use it enough to be overly concerned but I don't think it's too bad.

My old Motorola I picked up for $9.95 crapped out about 6 months ago and I did some searching and found a new dual SIM quad band phone from cellphoneshop or something like that for $31.00 shipped. I figured why not. It is cheap but it is more than I need for a phone and I have both SIM cards loaded and ready to go. Now when I get to Ja I just deactivate my AT&T SIM and activate my LIME SIM .