I was going to suggest the government phone. It's been a life saver for my mom and myself. But I noticed they live in the UK. I don't know if they have a program like that in the UK. They might?

Does the UK have Nokia? I swear by those things. I had a Nokia for years before it began to stop working. Generally speaking, prepaid phones are the best bet if you're on a budget. You control how much you spend on them.