Are there other alternatives beside using VOIP to callback families?

I used pre-paid international phone cards when I was in the UK, as I did'nt have access to the internet at home.

It was more expensive than using the internet but I saved a lot of money (I called my girlfriend almost everyday).

Another way to keep in touch, if you've got the internet, is to start writing your Expat.com

In my experience the calling cards you can get (at least in Germany) are not worth it at all.  They aren't really any cheaper than just using a typical calling plan.  Other countries may have better ones, though.  So, not sure I can help you there.  I do use Skype to call people who don't also have it.  It's less than 2 cents a minute for me to call regular phones with it.  That completely blows away any calling cards I could find.

There seems to have many service provider out there. I've also found an useful service over the weekend, their call back service was pretty impressive.... allowing caller to trigger a call using either phone or over the web. It's a service by globalroam. Try searching on web and u'll catch them. Something that I personally think it's worth trying. It solves my problem to a certain extent though.