sorry if this seems obvious; email is easy for me, the phone is not. But i can see where email would leave a paper trail. Any comments on the use of email to contact provider vs. phone? thx

Safer?  That's what hotmail and gmail are for.

While phone calls are safer in that the conversation's not being recorded, e-mails are more convenient to document an agreed meeting time and place.  Verbal agreements leave too much room for misunderstanding.  Some providers like to use the phone as a way of screening people through verbal cues.  If you want to really cut down on risk, stay out of the hobby altogether.

I have a hotmail account I use for internet purchases.  Therefore, any spam I might get goes there instead of to my real e-mail account which I use everyday.

there is a loophole in prepaid phone usage in US. In some other countries you have to register your prepaid phone under your name. If you pay for the prepaid phone kit and phone cards with cash only, your phone records would probably be very difficult to trace.

E-mails are traceable to your personal/company IP address unless you're extremely careful about covering your tracks. For some providers you have to use e-mail though before you get a phone number.

Use a separate e-mail account from hotmail, yahoo, gmail, etc just for the hobbying.

Some providers do not have a computer or are computer illiterate, or merely are not comfortable with them. Others will have all initial contact by either e-mail or a "contact" form on their website.

back to the sender, anonymous or not, your IP address is logged, and if push comes to shove, your internet provider (not the provider you have wonderful session with) can give up your id.

That is usually the case. Most providers have their own thoughts about contact and either you play their game or you don't play.

Assuming that the email isn't shared by the family, how much do I care if anyone finds out that I scheduled "a meeting at your office to discuss matters, expected to last about an hour"?  We're always preaching to the newbies to not be overt in their wording.  Worded correctly, the initial email can be easily confused with an appointment to review my will.  Am I missing something?

$100 gives you VIP status with 1,000 minutes that don't expire a year. Refill before your minutes expire and get another year for all your existing and new minutes.

You can buy a kit from Walmart/Target with cash. If you catch a promotion you might buy a $100 card for less like $90 or $85.