The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Kristin at The Gold Project.
Summer is right around the corner, so I thought it would be a good time to talk about car organization tips. If you are anything like me, you will want your car organized and ready to go for vacation. My family and I are taking our first ever family vacation and I do not want to ride in a cluttered vehicle for several hours.
Have a Container for Trash
This would be my most important tip. I have little ones that ride with me on a daily basis and they think my car is their trash can. I have learned if I leave some kind of container in the car that we devote to trash, my car stays cleaner longer. And for us, we like to use the plastic bags that you get at the grocery store. They are free and you are doing some form of recycling, which is good.
Remove Unwanted Items after Every Trip
I have found this is vital when keeping your car organized on a daily basis. I can’t tell you how many times I have wanted to leave jackets, hair ties, and other items in my car when I pull into my garage. This was a hard thing for me to start doing. I blame it on laziness. After a long day at work, picking up and dropping off kids, I kept telling myself I would do it tomorrow. Then, a week later, my car would look like a tornado had made it’s way through my car. So, now, I tell myself no excuses. It is easier to clean up my car after one trip than ten.
Involve your Kids
For a long time, I was the only one cleaning up and organizing my car daily even though most of the mess was never mine. My kids would eat in my car, leave school and daycare items, candy wrappers, and the list goes on. Every day when we pulled into the driveway, I would have to make several trips to clean out my car. Then, I realized it wasn’t my mess and I should not be the only one that picks it up. So, now, my kids help take their school bags and jackets inside and get their trash out of the car. If they are involved in the process, it seems like they are more apt to pay attention to how messy they are while traveling in my vehicle.
Have a Spot for Change
I can’t tell you how many times I have cleaned and organized my car and found loose change everywhere. I have found it under the seats, wedged between my seats and the console, in the floorboard, cupholders, and the list goes on. So, now I have a designated space for change. It helps with cleaning (I sure don’t want to vacuum up a quarter) and gives us some spending money as well.
Take Action
Last, but definitely not least, is to take action. I let my car get unorganized and stay unorganized for a long time because I was just being lazy and didn’t want to do anything about it. In my mind, I kept telling myself it was just going to get messy again. Then, I decided to stop accepting excuses. Now that I have a system set up, it is a lot easier.
My name is Kristin and I am a middle school career education teacher by day and a mommy/wife/blogger by night. I am married to my high school sweetheart and we have two loving children. We recently made a life-changing move to Arkansas, so our new house is always under construction. I get excitement out of finding new creative, functional, and cute ways to organize things! I also enjoy writing and documenting life as it happens. So, I put these loves together and created The Gold Project. With the help of my husband, I am attempting to turn our house into a home. So, check out this special place of mine and take this journey with me!
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Margot Nowicke says
I am OCD when it comes to keeping my car clean! When my kids were school age I also treated myself to a good car wash that included vacuuming and wiping out the interior. I did this about once every 3-4 weeks with regular washes in between. I spent a lot of time in my car and enjoyed it more when it was clean!
Jane Clinton says
My hobby is photography and when I go off with my camera I often come back covered in mud this of course gets in the car. I now keep a complete change of clothes in the car and a towel. I keep them in an old cushion cover on the back seat this keeps them covered and nobody is going to break in for a cushion. I keep lots of other useful things in there as well. Ideal as a child changing bag that doesn’t leave the car and doesn’t make the car untidy.