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At least once a week, I notice that someone forgets something and I say “You left home without ____?” I have learned to be prepared! Now, I’ve found my favorite 10 things to keep the car. Sometimes we will even grab our snack hack and take that with us, too!
I made this list of 10 must-haves for the car, when you have kids, a few years ago. I have found that even though our kids are now older, the things that I keep in the car remain the same. 🙂
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We have four kids, so we are ALWAYS trying to find things in the car. When emergencies pop up, we like to be prepared. It was mostly “learning through experience” that brought us to this list. I’ve been caught without many of these too many times and I’ve learned my lesson! Our car is not “ready for anything” (most of the time, anyway!) Plus, Our kids are young and we need a little more than families with older children.
1. Coats or zip-up sweatshirts in the trunk.
I do this because our kids are constantly cold, especially in restaurants, so if I can have a coat handy, it works out great. I even do this in the summertime because this is when everyone has their AC on full blast and our kiddos get extra-cold if we are out to eat.
2. An extra pair of flip-flops
I can remember several times, when our kids were toddlers or young preschoolers, that they had just forgotten their shoes. Don’t ask me how I overlooked that little detail while we were getting into the car, but somehow it happened more than once.
I’ve also had each of our four kids break a flip-flop at least once during an outing.
Oh- and muddy puddles. How did I forget those?! When my kids were young, they stepped in plenty of puddles and they were left with soaking wet shoes.
Having an extra pair in the car is always a good idea. It may seem weird, but trust me… there is a reason. 🙂
3. Bandaids
You never know when you’ll need one.
4. Power Converter – my FAVORITE thing to keep in the car!
This little box turns any normal plug into a car plug. I can charge anything using this and I use it all of the time! I’ve used this on my laptop, portable DVD players, a cooler that works with a little air conditioner that’s powered by an outlet, the kids’ tablets on a long trip (since our back seat doesn’t have the right outlet for their devices), and so many more things.
This is life-changing for me! (I keep this & all of my chargers in the little-hidden console under the dash). Here is the power converter that we have.
5- Extra Grocery Bags
We always have stuff that needs to be thrown away when we are out & about (antibacterial hand wipes that I made them use after we left the last store, wrappers, broken pencils, paper, empty water bottles) and these grocery-store bags are the perfect way to get rid of it. When we stop to get gas, or when we are going to walk into a store, I will just grab one of the bags from the dashboard and pass it around. The kids toss any trash into the bag and we carry it to the nearest garbage can.
6. Snacks
I try to keep a few snacks in the car because sometimes plans change, and that trip that should have taken one hour is now approaching its third hour.
It just makes it easier if I have a snack to pass back to the kids. Plus, this stops everyone (including myself) from asking if we can stop for something to eat.
7- Sunglasses (extras!)
A few years ago my Mom & I were shopping at Michaels and they had their sunglasses on clearance for 50 cents. We bought about 6 pairs. I have lost most of them by now, but I still keep a few spare pairs of these sunglasses in the car, just in case I lose my regular sunglasses. My kids have also used them when they have forgotten their sunglasses at home.
Oh- I try to stock up each year, at the end of the season. They are always discounted.
TIP: You could even order a cheap pack of 12 and just keep them in the car, under the front seat.
8 – Water Bottles
I keep 3 water bottles in my trunk (in a tote bag). It seems to be a cure-all when we have sticky hands! (NOTE: It has been found that they can leak chemicals, so you might not want to do this. I keep them in there because we use the water to wash up when we are in a bind, but we usually have fresh (new that day) water to drink because the kids grab a new water bottle from the refrigerator in our garage before hopping into the car in the mornings.)
9- My “Restaurant backpack”
This is a backpack that I keep just for going out to eat or going somewhere like that. I keep hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, coloring books, crayons, some small toys & a few other little things. When the kids were young, I kept a high-chair cover and disposable bibs in the bag, too.
10- 3 pack of $.99 Tissues
It never fails that the kids need a tissue when I have none. Now, I keep a skinny box or travel packs of tissues in the glove compartment.
WHAT TO KEEP IN YOUR CAR: READER SUGGESTIONS
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- Scissors (in case you need to cut a seatbelt)
- An extra pair of clothes for the kids
- Ziplock bags (for new clothes & then dirty clothes)
- “barf bags” using disposable diaper genie refills.
- Sticky Notes made FOR YOUR VISOR (love this idea!)
- If you have a potty trainer, keep a mini baby bjorn travel potty in your car.
- A coloring book (we love our Potty Training Coloring binder that we made).
- A bag of books
- Decorate a shoe box as their special car toy box- let them pick the toys that go in it.
- Keep a roll of toilet paper in a plastic bag in the trunk
- 1/2 a roll of paper towel (takes up less room, but does the job.)
- Car laundry basket. Everything goes in there and then into the house (sports stuff, etc…)
- Spare change
- A towel, in case you get caught in the rain (or jumping in puddles!)
What else can you think of?
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I agree with all of the above, and have a couple to add: bug spray, an atlas for us old school Gma’s. If you have a baby: an extra binky. We also keep fold up chairs in the back. We LOVE our stow-n-go van!
we need bug spray- our kids get bitten within minutes of being outside (I tell them that its because they are so sweet!)
I have 2 little girls and a son and find that I usually need hair ties/rubber bands for their hair when we’re out or the little ones pulls them out. I keep extra hair stuff in my car.
I should do that for our daughter- she wears (& loses) so many bows!
Love your ideas!!! I try to do the same. However, I wouldn’t keep food or water in anything plastic and leave it in your car. Plastic is bad on it’s own but plastic and heat is much worse!
thanks.
FYI, scissors are not a reliable tool for cutting a seatbelt in an emergency. You are much better off with a LifeHammer, which has a seat belt cutter built into the handle (there’s no way to cut yourself on it, though). Plus, then you have the ability to easily break a window from inside if you can’t get out through a door. I think I paid about $20 for mine…I bought one on Amazon and the only color choice was orange, but the actual LifeHammer website has a ton of colors. And as far as the bottled water goes…even many disposable bottles are BPA free now. Even if they’re not, well…in an emergency, bottled water is bottled water.
OH- thanks for the tip!! I agree w/ the water thing- water is water if you need it.
My father gave me a life hammer type item that is also a flash lite and red strobe light. Add to that strong leather gloves to remove any glass if necessary to break the window. They both live in the pocket of the driver’s door, not used for anything else. Plus extra batteries in a Baggie, just in case also.
Oh! That is so funny, because my dad wants me to have that for our car, too! (We live by a lake and he wants me to be able to knock the glass out if we ever go in the water.)
I have an emergency car tote with basic tools- screw drivers pliers, jumper cable, gloves rain coat, Flashlight ect. It also has the emergency water packs.
However i like all these other ideas, but unfortunately I have a pretty small car with a small trunk so i don’t have room for all these things.
Any ideas where I would put it?
🙂 I’m not sure? I keep things in the back of the seats (in the pockets behind the seats) and even under the captain seats in the back, but not sure about a car.
How about one of those organizers that hook on the back of the seat? And the big stuff a tote in the trunk
Good thinking!
Great list! We also keep baby powder in our car! It works to get sand off the kids skin after a day at the beach. No more painful clean up, the sand will just brush right off!
good idea!
What about grabbing a reusable water container each morning instead of all those plastic bottles?
Having cup a in the car is great. for when we buy a big bag or bottle of something to share. Like at the movies. Also I love to have a stash of individual condiments, especially catchup. and always a stash of straes
I’ve loved reading your tips and all of the comments. Thanks so much. One of the things I’m thinking I might do is make an organizer for the trunk for summer and have a separate one for winter that way all I have to do is switch it out when I’m ready and I’ll know everything is in it that we need. (Of course using all the great tips listed from the article and comments.)I especially loved the Catchie tip. I’d never heard of one. I’ll be ordering one for my grandson asap.
good idea
In addition to some of the things already mentioned…In my console armrest-travel size contact solution,deodorant,sanitizer, sunscreen, bug repellant wipes, stain remover/tide to go pen, tampons/liners, stamps, coins & my Aldi’s quarter. Under my console armrest-coupons & sales ads. Glovebox-napkins & registration/manual. Backseat-Sweaters, travel pillow, books, mini bag of chips. Trunk-bottled water for CLEANING, xtra umbrellas, mini travel games, 4 quad chairs, beach blanket, insulated bags for shopping/reusable shopping bags, umbrella stroller, shopping cart cover, portable high chair. Above the rear view mirror-xtra sunglasses & travel kleenex. Driver door-life hammer, scissors, corkscrew, hand lotion & pens. Passenger door-map, notepads & more pens. Ashtray-chapstick, pennies, binder clip in case I need to close a bag of chips:), USB car charger & a cord that has various ends (i store the ends in my purse with my Pow’r-Up Chargie). I have some more junk in my trunk but can’t remember since I haven’t seen the bottom of the pile in a while.
haha! 🙂
What a great list! I so need to have extra shoes in my car.
Great list! In addition to some of your list I keep a roll of paper towels and a can of lysol spray in a plastic bag in case of car sickness. Yuck:-( Also in summer I keep a beach blanket and bag of sand toys for impromptu beach visits:-)
Good idea! 🙂 This summer we added 3 boogie boards to our trunk. lol!
Don’t forget a change of clothes for mom!! Mine have torn off a butt pocket, vomited and bless on my clothes… Having a fresh set in the car is essential for me
Good point!
I keep socks in the car during sandal/flip flop season, just in case we make an impromptu trip to an indoor playpark, and sand toys in case we decide to stop at a playground.
Oh, and in the winter I keep ice skates, helmets, sleds (flat ones), and snow pants in the trunk…we do a lot of impromptu activities like these because we homeschool. I often text our friends (or vice versa) and say meet me at (fill in the blank) so the kiddos can get their physical activity in. Saves having to run home first if we’re already out.
good idea!!