Organized Forever

 Keeping The Car Interior Organized

by Judy Brown

If passersby look into the interior of your car or truck, what do they see? Do you have trash from fast food snacks, books, or papers piled on the seats and floors? Is your vehicle tidy and neat, or is it a mess?

The condition of your car says something about you. Have you ever NOT offered someone a ride because you were embarrassed about how untidy your car was? With all those windows, it's kind of silly to think no one will notice your mess, anyone who walks by your car in a parking lot can see all that's there, if they care to look.

What sort of impression will you make when you arrive at a business meeting, or community event and crawl out of your messy, dirty car (all dressed up in your business suit or your clean and tidy casual outfit?)

Let's face it, we spend more time in the car these days, what with driving kids to school and events, running errands, or using the car for business purposes, there are many opportunities for people to look into your car's interior. You might not care what people think about the state of your vehicle, but there is no contest between riding in a mobile trash heap and driving a clean, tidy car.

Items To Keep On Hand - In The Car

# Owner's Manuals and Car Warranties

Anytime you have repairs done that carry a guarantee, make sure you keep the receipts and any printed warrantee papers. Store them in an envelop or speciality folder in your glove compartment.

You can keep them in your home filing system, but if you are on the road and something happens and the work is still under warrantee, it is much easier to get the repair done without having to pay if you have the warrantee papers with you in the car. One solution to having these on hand, but recorded in the central filing system, is to take copies of these documents and store the copies at home.

First Aid Kit

You can buy pre-made kits from the drug store or an auto supply store. You can also fill a Tupperware (tm) container with: band-aids, gauze, tension bandage with clips and safety pins, a foil blanket that folds down to almost nothing and ointments, rubbing alcohol, suntan lotion and antiseptic cleaner.

# Maps

Take along maps of your local area, street maps for any cities you are going to be visiting and highlight your route before leaving the house.

# Insurance Papers

Also kept in the glove compartment in your folder or an envelop. Make sure you throw out the old ones when they expire, or you may find yourself in an embarrassing scramble if the police pull you over and want to check your paperwork. More than one person (my husband included) has pulled out expired insurance papers and was almost given a ticket for no insurance until it was realized there were expired papers from previous years mixed in with the current ones.

# Emergency Phone Numbers

Police, fire, your doctor, insurance company- all the numbers you may need in an emergency.

# Busy Box - For the driver: books or magazines to read when stopped in traffic or for other road delays. If you have children on board, you'll want a selection for them too. Keep the items on the floor in the back seat in a plastic container or basket.

# For the kids: cassette or CD recorder equipped with headphones, and some music or stories, for longer trips or road delays.

You might find that a plastic shoe organizer is a handy way to store the books, car toys and cassettes. Get the clear plastic kind and fit it so it hangs over the back of the front seat making the pockets handy for the children to use.

You can make one yourself with plastic material from the hardware or housewares section of the drapery department, it comes in wide sheets that you can have cut to your measurements. Just stitch up the pockets on your sewing machine.

# Baby wipes - perfect for wiping sticky faces and hands. Great for quick wipe-ups for spills or dust on the dashboard between washes. You can get individually packaged travel wipes, but I find the pop-up wipes are just as handy although not as easy to store.

# Travel Mugs and Straws
Although I discourage eating and drinking in the car, there are times when you just have to have a coffee or the kids need a soft drink. Instead of trusting the paper cups from fast-food places, get a travel mug for each family member. Before getting into the car, pour the drinks in the mugs and put the caps back on securely. Small children can use a straw, so keep a few in the glove compartment for them.

Clean-up Routines

When you arrive at your destination, take the cups in and wash them so they are ready for the next trip. Have a small basket or container in the car and return the clean items right away or bring in your basket and load the clean cups back into it and leave it in a designated spot to refill before leaving the next time.

Keep trash picked up as you travel. When stopping for gas, get rid of the odds and ends of trash while your car is being filled up.

Plan a regular washing schedule. I find it easier to take my car out to be washed at the car wash, because I don't like doing it myself. When the kids were home, they did it for me. I paid them what I would have paid at the car wash.

The secret to having a clean and tidy car is to keep ahead of the dirt and the mess. Develop routines for taking care of your car and pick-up as you go. Once a year, invest in a really good professional detailing job, and your car will look and smell like new when it's done. That should be a good incentive to keep it that way.

For more information on what you should carry in the trunk of your car see Peggy Hoehne's great article: Tips For A Safe Vacation

As well as a list of things you should keep on hand, there is a great list of links to more information on traveling safely.