Nasti-
If you don't want to pay the money for a phone in your apt. you're really left with little choice than do what you're doing and the suggestions everyone is giving you. It may seem like a lot of money, but really if you think about it, your spending more money avoiding getting the regular phone! Now even if you do decide to get a regular phone installed- calls are still not cheap! In Spain you are charged per call and the amount of time you're on the call - so you'd still have to be careful not to get carried away and spend too much time on the phone. Roe's llamada perdida is a good suggestion- my friends and I do that alot- like when we're going to meet and you're on your way out the door so that the other person knows that and can estimate how long it will take you... or even do 2 in a row if you're going to be late- stuff like that. Keep in mind also that its cheaper to call movil to movil than movil to fijo (reg. telephone). You say you have vodaphone- that may be part of your problem- what types of phones do your friends have? Its more expensive to call someone whose phone is from a different company and cheaper if you have the same company- maybe you should look into movistar or amena-find out what most of your friends have and check out the deals with the different cell carriers. Those are your choices so you can deal with it, or like you said, if its that much of a burden, don't return to Spain. That simple. Good luck!