It is so hard if you are here in the United States and you only get to talk to your family once in a while.  My family in the Philippines don't have any internet connection at home and if I call them everyday on my phone, the monthly charges will be a lot. I have been having this issue ever since and even up to now. I always wanted to talk to them everyday because it's not really easy being here in the U.S. with no filipino family to talk to. Plus, family is different from friends. My mom lives in a remote area in the Province that can't have an internet connection because the ISP's in our province wouldn't install it there for some reasons. It's too far from even the closest ISP branch and there's not that many people who live there who would want an internet connection in their homes. 

So now, I'm working on getting my mom an apartment in town where they can get a connection from the internet. Yesterday, my husband bought a Magic Jack for $39 that already includes the gadget and  the first year of service. Once, my mom gets the internet connection installed at the apartment, we will send her this Magic Jack that we have now so she can also use it for an unlimited call abroad to me and we will just buy a new one for us.  With Magic Jack, you can have an unlimited long distance call if the other party has a Magic Jack too. After the first year service inclusion is over, you'll only have to pay $19.95 for the yearly charge which is still affordable, right?. Compared to an estimate of a thousand dollars yearly phone bill for an average person with long distance calls. So, other than chatting on the internet, me and my family can already call each other at an unlimited time with Magic Jack. Hopefully it works as they claim it does.