I have used 'Travelling phones' ( modest cost models) to eliminate roaming costs when 'out of country'. I have a local account in Guyana (old account- no data) but hotel & some family have Wifi so 'Guyana Phone' , a Samsung Galaxy J2Prime is for inbound /outbound calls & SMS. I've had that unit for almost 3 years and it works well. It replaced an ancient Blackberry in the same role.
I also have my pay-as-you -go Canadian account on which I have a Galaxy J3. It's with a discount carrier which I've used for 10+ years since I lived there. I use it for local calling and to call back home when needed ( overseas calling rates are far better than would be 'roaming rates' with my home carrier) , but it's main purpose is to generate the Wifi hotspot I use to run the data functions for my iPhone & iPad, when I'm in Canada. I also use it for calling in the US. THE J3 is a neat little critter which replaced the LG X- Power I used the same way for 3 years, which ceased to work reliiably earlier this year. Over the 10 years since I retired & moved, the savings in roaming costs have more than paid for the extra device(s) The use of Internet for 'top-up' from anywhere has made this actually not only the cheapest, but also the most convenient route to go.
I have written essentially this, earlier in I believe the same thread, but am repeating it here & now as it has 'come up' again. It's always interesting to see how others in a diverse spectrum deploy & employ their technology, one of the goals of Forums such as this.