One of our brilliant readers, Jeanie Mellick, has some great car tips:
With each new car I buy the car it’s own set of “towels” that match the interior. I always keep one laid out covering the trunk area (large bath size) and then if any groceries spill, it just gets tossed in the laundry.
I put hand towels on the floor for the kids muddy shoes/sports equipment/etc. They are very handy, and so much less costly than getting your upholstery cleaned.
Another trick I use is to just throw the Windex and paper towel roll in the car, and then clean windows, doors, etc. while waiting in the car pool line, etc.
You can also keep a bag of “food stash” in the trunk to keep drive-through trips to a minimum. I keep packs of goldfish crackers, Gatorade, etc. so I can just give the kids something healthy rather than hit up McD’s for fat filled fake chicken!!
Finally, home schooling is saving $$$ big time on gas!
Do any of you have some good tricks to keep that damned car from gobbling up our time and money? Get your lazy butt to comment below or shoot us an email. We’d love to hear from you.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
i drive by myself about an hour each way to baltimore for class, so i do a lot of my “reading” for school in the car. because of my learning disability, i get textbooks on CD from recording for the blind and dyslexic (these require a special player), but many books are also available on audible.com. i keep the player out of sight in the trunk when i’m not using it.
it usually doesn’t substitute for actual reading 100%, but it helps me get the idea of what is being discussed, so when i get home i have less trouble processing what is on the page.
on a completely different subject, i also like to keep extra bank deposit slips and envelopes in the glove compartment. my bank doesn’t offer envelope-free ATM deposits, so i like being able to have everything ready ahead of time, or in case i get to the ATM and they’re out of envelopes.
I’m a big fan of audio info too. Audio books and podcasts far outweigh music in my listening life.
well, a lot of the time i’d much rather be listening to music
it’s just that spending that much time commuting on a regular basis feels like a waste if i don’t take advantage of it somehow.
We drive back and forth to the mountains quite often, glorious Rocky Mountains, and we have gotten into the habit of not only keeping a very well stocked first aid kit but a stuck-in-bad-weather-or-avalanche kit. We have fleece blankets which are good for early morning drives with the kids. We also have these shiny, silver blankets that pack down into our bad weather kit as well as candles and matches to keep warm. There’s also dry food for the family, water and a disposable camera to take pictures in case there’s an accident or in case we see a sasquatch while we’re stranded in a snow embankment on the side of the highway.
Putting together a kit like that has been on my “todo” list forever. Thanks for the inspiration to move it up a few notches. I’d hate to have Hannah and the kids get stuck somewhere without much more than a cell phone and some chocolate bars.
To save money on gas I take my two dogs for a ride and they shed all over the passenger seats. Now when people see the fur covered seats they usually volunteer to do the driving.
I loved this! As a man mostly clad in black…this would work like a charm on me.
Our car has a tape deck, which means it used to be littered with tapes (some for me, some for the kids). Then, we used a cd player that plugs into the tape deck, and the lighter jack… which made for better sound and choices, but left the car littered with cds, tapes, the player, and cables running all over.
Now, we use an iPod, and the same headphone-jack-to-tape-deck device, and so there’s only one cord, no tapes, no cds… so much easier.
Ahhh…the joys of a digital life. It’s amazing how compact our audio/video lives have become in the past decade.
Fortunately my wife’s office is just a couple of miles from mine. Unfortunately our house is 25 miles away. We have two cars and she works at home two days a week. The other three days we ride together. We usually take her big ass suv because she drives in the morning while I grab a few extra minutes of snooze time. I fill it once a week and fill my car once every two or three weeks instead of once or twice a week. Always nice to save some $$.
I like the idea of using the wife as a chauffeur while you snooze. Good work sir.
I got cheap ($4) lapdesks from the craft store, one for each child to use in the car. It allows them to color or play with small toys on their lap during long car rides. It is also helpful when snacking in the car. They each also have a bag of special car toys that live in the back of the car. These toys do not come into the house at all. Every now and then I rotate them.
We keep a snack bag in the car too, along with a first aid kit. In the front seat I ALWAYS have a container of baby wipes. They come in handy just about every single day.
The matching towels idea is a great one. I’ve created my share of upholstery stains thanks to spilled groceries, trash bags, etc. that I’ve hauled in my trunk.
We keep a box of baby wiped and a roll of toilet paper in the back of our car – just in case! When my son was potty training this came in real handy a time or two.
Love these tips so will add couple of mine. In addition to the bank stuff, I include a sheet of return labels which I put on those Rx s that you have to put your name and address on prior to submitting them for filling at the drive-through. If you are printing out your own youcan add your birthdate since so many places use that for your computer account…otherwise I use up those labels that charities and your ins. company, etc. semd you that are smaller than the deocrative ones that cost more $.
hI, LIKED YOUR “RETRIEVE IT FROM THE DRAIN” TIP. i HAVE A GARBAGE DISPOSAL THAT BACKS UP THE ENTIRE UNDER KITCHEN SINK PLUMBING BECAUSE OF THE WAY IT IS ROUTED. bECAUSE i’M LAZY i DRAG IN THE SHOP VAC AND CLEAR IT OUT INSTEAD OF REMOVING THE PLUMBING PARTS AND CONTORTING MYSELF UNDER THE CABINET. aLSO DON’T HAVE TO PULL EVERYTHING OUT FROM UNDER AND IT IS EASY TO CLEAN THE SHOP VAC OUTSIDE INSTEAD OF TRYING TO CATCH EVERYTHING IN A BUCKET IN THE CONFINED SPACE.
I keep my grocery/supply list near my cell phone, since that is usually me most of the time. Rather than list my needs by catagory (i.e groceries, hardware, dry cleaning, drug items, office supplies) I list by the store where these items are purchased. On my way home from work, I can stop by the store – only if I am passing it and not having to go “out-of-my-way” to purchase the item. This works for me as I travel to different locations each day of the week. SAVES ON GAS and my time.
Hi Richard,
I do the same thing. Categorize by store or area of town. It’s worked very well. If I’m downtown and have a half hour to kill I just call up my “Downtown” list and there are few things I want to go see. Very handy way of uncluttering my brain too.
Best,
Michael
Not necessarily to save on gas, but save your brakes:
I downshift a lot to slow the car (automatic trans).
My wife said “you’ll ruin the transmission!!!!”.
Well, I’ve changed a lot of brakes but never the transmission.
One clutche in a straight stick but that was normal anyway.
For my 2003 Jag X-type my original brakes lasted 62k miles.
When I had them replaced the guy was amazed.
I just told him I use the accelerator mostly.
May I suggest that, instead of a stash of salty Goldfish and sugary Gatorade, you simply keep a supply fruit and water in the car? Much healthier!
I disagree, Simon,
Bacteria grows rapidly in water, especially in a hot trunk. Also the plastic bottles leach BPA’s.
See: http://stephenleahy.net/2009/03/26/plastic-bottles-leach-estrogen-healthy-mineral-water-contaminated-by-plastic/
And fruit will last maybe a day or two in the car.
…think ‘PRESERVATIVES’! LOL
Maybe dried fruit and/or nuts. They keep really well in a car.
Also you can fill a water bottle (such as the thicker hard sided re-usable ones that I believe I’ve read are safer) with water and keep it next the door. That is what we do. When we get home, we drop it on the counter to be rinsed or washed out the next time we are washing dishes, then refill it and set it back by the door. The plastic isn’t sitting in a hot car, and it is easy to make sure that the water is fairly fresh and the bottle recently cleaned.
For women, it works well to keep the bottle next to their purse, so they will always see to grab it, even if they are in a rush.
Fluids in plastic bottles and subjected to the heat in your car are unsafe to drink. It has been shown in recent studies many children have chemicals in their system from plastic which changing its chemical basis due to heat. Also, I keep a small tooth brush in the door of my car. While I am waiting for children, etc. I detail the console and dash of my car. Keeping a jug of water, antifreeze, and oil in your car is cheaper than stopping at a gas station.
I travel a great deal and enjoy listening to the radio. Many libraries have sales several times a year and I buy MANY books on tape/CD, usually at $.50 (max $1.00).