OK, I used coinbase for the first time to test it out. I transferred some BTC into my cell phone and coinbase said that it took out 0.0002 BTC as a miner's fee, BUT when I look in my cell phone wallet, all the BTC that I transferred is there. Nothing was taken out. If I transferred 1 BTC, then shouldn't the amount received be 0.9998 BTC due to the miner's fee? What am I not understanding here?
Coinbase pays the fee for you. My guess is that they believe that paying the fee themselves keeps their customers happy.
How the fee is handled is up to the wallet application. If you tell the wallet to send 1 BTC and the fee is 0.0002, a wallet might send 0.9998 BTC for a total of 1 BTC, but most wallets send 1 BTC for a total of 1.0002 BTC.
I am SOOO Confused. Someone please help a newb figure out how much to pay in fees and type the correct fee in the electrum wallet. Maybe I should use a different wallet? ?
Electrum will automatically calculate a fee for you. The calculation is based on the same rules that are used by most nodes. Adjusting the amount may change the amount of time it takes to confirm the transaction. Using the value that electrum suggests is sufficient as long as electrum is kept up-to-date (because the rules change occasionally).
AFAIK, all wallets calculate a fee for you and some don't let you adjust it, so switching to another wallet won't change anything.