Automobile - Organizing Round-up

It is time again for the Monthly Organizing Round-Up at Organizing Junkie.
For the month of June it was all about our CAR.

We do a pretty good job keeping extra clutter from piling up in our car, but we are not very good at keeping the car clean or stocked. Our car needed some work.

I started by taking the car to the mechanic. That pesky check-engine light was on again. Whenever it gets really hot something triggers it, but it is not readily obvious why and there are no other symptoms. I took it in to test it and in the middle of the test it went off. We will watch it for another few weeks before investing serious money to fix our phantom problem.


Time to tackle the cleaning.

• I started by taking everything out of the car - car seats, mats, papers, toys, maps, etc. It was amazing how much stuff was hiding under the seats.


• Next I wiped everything down. There was about an inch of dust on the dashboard and the windows were desperately in need of cleaning.


• Then it was time to vacuum. There were cheerios and gold fish hiding everywhere. I ended up removing the seats entirely to clean under them.

Finally time to organize:

• First I checked and restocked the emergency kit: jumper cables, tire patch kit, flares, first aid kit, a few tools, blanket, etc.


• Next was the glove box - only the registration info, a pad and pen, and the air pressure gauge made it back in. Two maps were refolded and returned to the door pocket.


• Lastly were the random supplies that we keep, "just in case:" plastic bags (kept a paper towel roll), small umbrella, a few toys (doodle pads, most importantly), baby wipes, sun block, hand sanitizer, a few clean rags.


• I also normally keep extra clothes, diapers, etc. in a small bag for emergencies, but I decided to keep a ready-packed bag in the entry closet instead. I can grab it quickly, but it doesn't have to take up precious car space all the time. Our kids are old enough that we haven't used this bag in a long time, but we'll see if I end up regretting this decision.

So, how is your car looking these days?

Thanks to Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie for inspiring me to tackle this much-needed project.