SAVE GAS MONEY - DE-CLUTTER YOUR CAR!

Car Clutter Wastes Money

Carrying extra, unnecessary weight around uses up gasoline. If your car is a rolling storage room, you are throwing money away. Lugging heavy items - golf clubs, seasonal tools, books - puts a damper on fuel economy. It’s a drag, literally. Reduce the weight of clutter to save cash!

Steps:

1. Purge out-of-season tools and accessories. Right now, take out snow shovels, snow brushes, ice scrapers and sand bags or kitty litter; in autumn, remove folding chairs, sunshades and beach towels.

2. In the Car: Assign important “must have” items to specific places.

• Glove Compartment: “Paper Place” - for maps, the owners manual, repair log, copy of car registration and other necessary car-related papers.
• Under Front Seats: a small emergency tool kit, a “Help Police” sign, a small first aid kit a flashlight, fresh batteries, package of pre-moistened wipes, some small plastic bags and an umbrella.
• Trunk: Safety Place - Store your spare tire, your emergency car kit and windshield-washer fluid.

3. In the Garage: Create a place to store summer and winter sports gear so you can grab it and put it in the trunk when you want it. Create a place for car travel kits, too.

4. For each Child: Create a traveling kit in a small tote or basket with handle to keep their stuff together and contained. Color code them. Or give each child an organizer to hang over the back of the seat in front of them to hold snacks, toys and other “keep-them-busy” items. Teach them to remove it when they leave the car and replenish it as needed.

We turn our cars into cluttered junk-mobiles. Uncluttering makes travel efficient, safer and more economical. And if you are stopped by law enforcement authorities, an un-cluttered car helps cool your nervousness -- you have what you need and when asked, you will be able to find it, without the embarrassment or concern that clutter causes.

If you have an emergency which requires that you pull to the side of the road, the last thing you want to do is stand on the side of the road emptying the junk out of the trunk to find what you need. You’ll be embarrassed, waste time, feel frustrated and potentially risk your life de-junking under the eyes of every car that goes by.

Eliminating clutter from your car is a relatively small job. It takes seconds once it becomes a habit! Get involved every person who rides in your car.

• Daily: remove CD’s, DVD’s and other perishable, valuable items.
• Train everyone to remove their travel tote or sports equipment from the car and put it where it belongs. Reward consistency.
• Weekly maintenance: Use the small plastic bags to de-junk the interior. What day? Garbage night.
• Change of season: de-clutter the entire car.

Car Organizers

Shop for useful containers, such as: a back of the seat organizer, an expanding container for between the front seats, one large tote for the trunk with velcro on the bottom to prevent movement, small portable organizers for CD’s and DVD’s that you can remove from the car during hot and cold weather and when you leave the car for the night.

Having a de-cluttered car has always been a good idea for safety, but now it saves us money.

© Copyright 2008 Helen D. Volk All Rights Reserved

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