Car Organization Ideas

Using organization ideas for your car might be one of the most important things you ever do. Besides the convenience of getting you where you want to go when you want to easily, it can save your life and the lives of others.

Even the act of having a car is probably the most important things you can do for yourself. You could get in your car right now and go anywhere you want. I think every person of driving age should have their own car. I think the expense of every person having their own car is justified.

I don’t know how an adult living alone could live without having their own car. I know there are cases of older couples where the couple has one car between them. This would only work if the couple spends most of their time together and that they get along very, very, very well.

My ex-wife’s parents only have had one car their entire married lives. They do get along well together but it just seems to me they have been lucky in the sense that nothing has happened to them that have required them to have a car each.

I prefer to not rely on luck, I want to be self-sufficient, which means I have to have a car.

I have listed some of the most important organization type things you should do to your car below:

1. Keep the gas tank at least half full all the time. As soon as my gauge gets to half full I stop for gas. During emergency situations like getting someone to the hospital, driving away from a bad situation or escaping a disaster, having a full tank is the most important thing in the world at that time.

2. Change the oil every 3,000 miles at a Quick Change place. I know it costs a little more, but the convenience can’t be beat and the guys there look over your car a little and tell you if something should be checked.

3. Take it to the mechanic when it’s not running right.

4. Follow the owner’s manual on the service.

5. Join an auto club like AAA. This service pays for itself with just one time.

6. Lock it, always.

7. Make sure you have your keys in your hand before you lock it.

8. Have spare keys in your house and maybe in one of those magnetized boxes attached to the car somewhere.

9. Keep the amount of stuff in it to a minimum. Sometimes you will have more like while traveling or when you have extra people. I know every time I have my kids with me there will be extra stuff in the car. After they go back to their mother I put the car back the way it should be quickly. Then I am ready for their next visit.

Here is what I have in my car right now;

1. Large flashlight on the floor in the area between the driver door and driver seat. This is a large heavy steel flashlight that throws a lot of light and is so big and heavy that it can be used as a club if you need it against a bad guy or a vicious dog. Mag Lite 5 D Cell Flashlight Black

2. Organizer attached to the driver side sun visor. The organizer has zippered pockets and regular pockets. The organizer holds a car insurance card, gas charge card, business mileage recording book, some pens, and tire pressure gauge, small pad of paper, oil change coupons, oil change discount card and my grocery store discount cards. This is really similar to the one I have:

3. Coins in the coin holder. Change is very handy to have available in the car.

4. Organizer on floor between the driver and passenger. This has 2 drink holders and 2 other openings. I keep an absorbent cloth here as well as drinks and any other miscellaneous items I am currently working on. I also have gum and mints here. The cloth is used to dust the dashboard, wipe my face in hot weather, my hands if they need it, the windows if they are foggy and as a bib if I am eating messy food while driving. My parents and sister all keep a fairly good sized towel for this purpose. They put it over their lap when they drink coffee. This is a really good idea if you drink coffee a lot while driving. It may stop you from scalding yourself or at least from spilling coffee on your clothes.

5. I keep the driver door pocket empty. I use this pocket for temporarily holding my important items like wallet, watch, cell phone, glasses or contact lenses holder while I am doing certain activities. The other day I picked up a friend to go to the fair. I wore my contact lenses. I placed my glasses, contact lenses case with solution in this pocket. I figured that I might crash on his couch after the fair instead of driving home late at night. I also put my cell phone here because I didn’t feel like carrying it all night at the fair. Sometimes I will do hot, sweaty work at my parent’s house or at my ex-wife’s house. I put my wallet, watch and cell phone in the pocket rather than ruining these things while doing strenuous, sweaty and dirty work.

6. The glove box holds scissors, a fingernail clipper, large jackknife, some cassette tapes, cell phone charger cord and a flashlight that is powered by winding,

7. The car owner’s manual is kept under the driver seat.

8. Passenger door pocket has napkins, Kleenex and a comb.

9. The visor above the passenger seat holds sunglasses and clip -on sunglasses.

10. Pocket behind driver seat has local maps. I have Wisconsin map, Milwaukee County map, Waukesha County map, a blow up map book of the region and MapQuest directions to people I am may visit.

11. Pocket behind passenger seat has individually packaged hand cleaners.

12. Box of tissue on the rear passenger seat.

13. Trunk has hiking boots, work gloves, a baseball hat, roll of paper towels, bottle of glass cleaner, umbrella, plastic bags, mosquito repellent, 2 small light fleece blankets, battery jumper cables, window squeegee, organizer with first aid kit, safety cone, light that plugs into the lighter, fold-able shovel, hammer, adjustable wrench, pliers, screwdrivers, rope, bungee cords, instant air canister, flares, fire extinguisher and window shade that says CALL POLICE.During the winter I add an ice scraper, snow brush, another 2 blankets, wool socks, heavy gloves, heavy mittens, and a winter hat and winter boots. The ice scraper is kept by the flashlight, the snow brush is kept on the floor on the front seat passenger side, the heavy gloves are kept on the floor organizer and the rest is kept in the trunk.

This method keeps me well prepared for anything, yet the car looks totally neat and organized all the time. Plus it’s easy to vacuum because there isn’t much to move. This amount of stuff suits me perfectly. If I have more temporarily due to traveling or having extra passengers, I just get back to the right amount as soon as I can.

There are times where I relax my standard of always having my car nearby. I will take the bus to large events like Summer fest because it is so inconvenient to park at big events like that. But I will have the car at the park and ride and only be away from it for part of a day. Traveling by plane will make it impossible for you to have your car nearby.

Sometimes I think that this adds to a person’s stress level when they are traveling. The security of your car is not there. I guess the fun and excitement of traveling outweigh the security for the time you are gone. I think that is why I prefer to travel by car. I have had a number of great trips by plane and plan on more, but you will have to realize that you are vulnerable at that time and should be extra vigilant.

Here are some good links to sites that have some great ideas on what to have in your car, how and why to keep it maintained and how to buy a used car:

13 Things a Man Should Keep in his car.

Car Survival Preparation.

How to Buy a Used Car.

Basic Car Emergency Kit. Keeping your car in good running order is one of the best ways of making your life organized and easy. This is the car schedule I am working on getting to:

1. November 1, Year One. Lease a new car (or truck). Put on winter wiper blades and have the factory mats that fit the car perfectly. Wash and vacuum the car frequently. Obviously, you will have new tires.

2. May 1, Year One. Replace winter wiper blades with new regular blades. Oil changes and other maintenance as recommended in the manual.

3. November1, Year Two. New front tire (rears if a rear wheel drive vehicle). Having new tires on the main drive wheels will make your winter driving much safer. Put on new winter wiper blades. Keep changing the oil, following the manual for maintenance and washing/ vacuuming.

4. May 1, Year Two. Replace winter wiper blades with new regular blades.

5. November 1, Year Three. New front tires and move one year old tires to rear tires (or opposite if rear wheel drive).

6. May 1, Year Three. New wiper blades.

7. November 1, Year Four. Lease a new car.

With this organization schedule you have nearly new tires always and nearly new wiper blades. The wiper blades and tires are the most important components of the car in bad weather. Following this schedule for tire and wiper blade replacement may save your life someday. At least you will be safer.

Replacing your car every 3 years is expensive, but you will avoid the big repair expenses.

I believe that having a well organized, well running car may be one of the most important things a person has. Just think of the people that didn’t have a car when Hurricana Katrina hit the Gulf States. The people who had a car were able to just drive away from the danger. The people who didn’t were dependent on luck and on others.

Watching those tragic events was a total shock to me. It really made me see how important having a car is and how the organization of your car can make your life so much easier and maybe even save it.

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