It could have been the dinnertime phone calls begging us to switch services or the junk mail chock full of discount offers. Or the confusion and constant concern that we didn’t have the best deal on a long-distance telephone calling plan.

All of those things irked me, but the monthly bill finally pushed me over the edge.

I thought we had a decent long distance plan. But on closer look and factoring in all the additional fees (national access fee, federal universal service fee, current taxes and surcharges, federal excise tax, federal, state and local surcharges to name just a few) the effective rate of what AT&T promised was their best plan zoomed to more than 30 cents a minute. "That's it," I said. "I've had it!"

I picked up the phone and kissed my long-distance service company good-bye! I told the customer service person to cancel my long distance service. "Yes," I said, "cancel it." No long-distance phone service for us!

I jumped in the car, drove to Sam's Club, bought two prepaid calling cards right off the rack. These cards are co-branded by AT&T and Sam`s Club -- both familiar faces I could count on. I parked one card in a convenient place right by the telephone and the other in my wallet.

I like paying cash for our long distance calls especially when it’s only 3.47 cents a minute, 24 hours a day for calls within the U.S. No hidden fees, no monthly long distance bill to deal with, no minimums or additional taxes. No surprises. It's working out beautifully. And the best part is a new awareness. Because I have to call the 800 number printed on the card (you don't need long distance service to call toll free numbers from your residential phone) I pay more attention plus I'm more aware of how long I'm talking.

Yes, it is an extra step to get the card out and dial extra numbers (takes about 30 seconds), but I got used to it after the second call. To me it`s the difference between paying cash and using credit. I pay more attention to what I'm doing and that's good.

There are two types of pre-paid phone cards: disposable and those that can be “recharged” and billed to a credit card. My advice is to stay away from “recharge-ables,” (you could easily slip into debt and that defeats the whole reason for the prepaid cards in the first place) consider only cards with major carriers like AT&T, MCI or Sprint. Avoid prepaid cards that tell you nothing about minutes, but state a number of "units," (which might not be equal to minutes) and those that expire.

Yes, I’m a huge fan of pre-paid long distance phone cards -- $480-a-year fan! That’s how much I figure I’m not spending in a year’s time when I use AT&T long distance for .0347 not 30 cents a minute. Other long-distance alternatives with similar savings include Onesuite.com and Bigzoo.com.

-- Denominations and full price of pre-paid phone cards from Sam Club’s vary, but currently a 600-minute card is $20.82. That’s 10 hours of talk to any number in any state, anytime day or night for 3.47 cents a minute, no fees, no surprises.

For more info about saving money, read 'Debt-Proof Living.'

Read More About Mary Hunt.