I've used this for a year -
www.tracfone.com
No complaints.
The phone was a Christmas gift and then I paid about $100-120 for 360 minutes for a whole year.
I only travel a couple times too.
I was reading another thread where this wouldn't work - if you use your cell phone as your "landline." You would expire the minutes too soon.
For my landline, I use Verizon's Value Package - phone bill is bundled for a $52/month for everything (taxes, long distance, toll). I do make phone calls to my father during the day, toll calls during the day so a "comprehensive plan" made sense to me.
The trick is to only give the number out to a few key people - my staff at work and my wife are the only two who have it. I wouldn't even give it to my mother.