A few weeks ago, the plastic clip that I use to carry my cell phone on my belt broke. The plastic simply fatigued and  the little lever came off. So the phone kept falling out.

I went to Verizon to buy a new one. But the phone, an LG VX4500, is over two years old and therefore they don’t carry spare parts any more. They offered me a cheesy little leather and plastic pouch, which looked like it would break in a few weeks, for $19.95.

No thank you.

Since my battery was also losing its charge quickly, and new batteries cost $50 and more, I thought that perhaps I should buy another phone.

However, the kid behind the counter could not come up with a phone that had a decent clip with it. When I realized that I was about to buy a phone to solve the clip problem, and I didn’t get a clip, I had to shake my head a few times  just to clear my thinking.

I gently pushed  the pile of boxes he was trying to sell me back to him, thanked him, and walked out.

Once home, I went online and found www.cellphoneshop.net, where I ordered a new clip ($3.40) and a new battery ($10), added a few dollars for shipping, and a few days later had the goods.

Now my battery holds its charge for days, and my new clip even swivels, which the old one didn’t do. I spent less than the $19.95 for the cheesy pouch and my phone works just fine.

I resisted the urge to throw this one away — once more.