Welcome to week 14, our final challenge of the 2015 Home Organizing Series. This week we are cleaning out, purging and organizing our cars. In my opinion, our cars are a reflection of our state of mind. If our cars are messy, we will be more stressed and anxious. It’s amazing what a simple task like cleaning out your car can do to your peace of mind. Take 20-30 minutes this week to clean out your car. Give it a good vacuuming and wash down. If you give your car the necessary care and maintenance it needs on a weekly basis, it will last a lot longer, saving you money and headaches.
WEEK #14 CHECKLIST: (Print out the Car Organization checklist HERE)
- Keep in car
- Take in the house
- Trash/Recycle
- Sort through everything in the car. Empty it completely. Remove anything that doesn’t belong or isn’t necessary to have in the car.
- Vacuum
- Wipe down the inside of the car
- Clean windows
- Wash Outside of car
- Take mats out and vacuum/shampoo
- Reusable Grocery Bags
- Emergency Kit
- Car Binder
- Business Receipts
- Kid Kit (If you have kids, you can keep car toys together in a bag/bin)
I keep my car as clutter free and clean as possible. I vacuum & wash it weekly. I spent a lot of money on it and want it to last a long time. I don’t allow any food or drinks in the car. No fast food fries here! The kids will not starve if they don’t eat in the car. By having a NO FOOD rule in our car, 75% of the mess has been eliminated.
- Gas
- Oil Change
- Car Wash
- Maintenance
- Supplies
- Other
- Repairs (Maintenance log, Mechanic numbers, etc)
- Mileage
- Volvo on Call
- Emergency (Phone numbers of relatives, etc)
- Insurance/Registration papers
I hope you’ve gotten some tips to help get you car clean & organized. Regular cleaning & decluttering is a great habit to learn and repeat on a regular basis. A clean car equals a clear mind. Happy Organizing.
HOW TO SHARE:
Share your progress on Instagram using the hash tag #abfolorganizechallenge, blog about the weekly challenges – sharing your before and after pictures and/or share over at my Home Organization 101 group here. Hold yourself accountable and finish all 14 challenges!
NEW TO THE CHALLENGE?
If you are just joining us, visit the challenge details page here, to learn what it’s all about.
CHALLENGES:
Week 1: The Kitchen
Week 2: The Laundry Room
Week 3: The Pantry
Week 4: Master Bedroom
Week 5: The Office
Week 6: Living Room
Week 7: Bathrooms
Week 8: Playroom
Week 9: Dining Room
Week 10: Linen Closet
Week 11: Kids Closets
Week 12: Master Closet
Week 13: Launch Pad
HAPPY ORGANIZING!
Tags: 14 week challenge, car, car organization, home organizing challenge, organize
14 Week Challenge, 2015 Home Organization 101, April 2015, Blog, car, Garage, Organize, Other Spaces Posted in
22 comments
22 comments on “Home Organizing Challenge Week 14: The Car”
I keep a clean roll of toilet paper and sunscreen in my emergency supplies kit in the boot. You never know when you might need to use a public restroom and there is no/ unclean toilet paper and sunscreen is always handy to have.
We just had a baby and I feel like we need some major time thinking about potential emergencies. Cleaning out the car and getting it organized for any what ifs is necessary right now. I am definitely going to tackle this project this week.
Thanksa for the tips! I really like your challenges, though this one, with the car is familiar to me -I almost do the same, but in the other areas of my life I’m not that organized. So really thanks for your help!
I love it.. Especially the car binder.. Where did you get the shopping bag tote I love the teal.
Where did you get the real bag that holds your reusable shopping bags?
Thirtyone
Hello. Which bag is it? I would like to put one in my car.
It’s the double organizing thermal and it’s now discontinued.
Fantastic! My car is always such a state. A few of these tips will help massively!
It looks so nice! Where did you find the pouches for the change and the one in your trunk?
Staples, martha stewart line. Its now discontinued. 🙁
so do you file all car maintenance papers (receipts from service work done…) in the car binder? I keep my car files currently in my office file cabinet. Just curious what you do and what you like best?
We just bought the Volvo XC60 10 days ago. I came to read this post after seeing your Instagram post, but didn’t know it was the same car until I came to the website. I bought three plastic bins from Aldi to use to put groceries in as well as other things that we need to take from time to time. I love your idea for keeping an umbrella by each door.
We have also instituted a no-eating rule in the car. I think that rule plus getting my daughter to clean her stuff out every day or two (she’s 5 and has to bring toys and who knows what else with her everywhere) is helping to keep the car clean. I love how Volvo gives free car washes.
What do you keep in your Volvo OnCall section of your Car Binder? We have only just been registered with them, so I’m curious as to what you include with that. And one more Volvo-related question: Do you know of an easy way to get Volvo to display text messages (I have an iPhone)? I still haven’t figured out the tedious process that my husband has been able to do.
Do you use any scents in your car?
Beautiful! The binder plus the mini expandable folder – just brilliant and now on my ‘To Purchase’ list! I love the bright pretty colors too, how inviting!
Yep, going out to clean and organize my car right NOW! This has totally inspired me. Maybe I should keep an image of it on my computer desktop so I’m reminded to keep it cleaned and organized! 🙂
What reusable shopping bags do you use and where did you buy them? I’m looking for some, but want to make sure I’m getting ones that will be strong and durable.
Where did you get your coin purse?
Apparently you do not have a mouse (mice) living in your car. Lucky!! 😉
Oh my! There’s a project in and of itself!
LOVED THIS! thank god I found your blog, I am going to organize everything now lol. I also noticed that you like Scrapbooking and I love it too! I want to share with you my new Scrapbook store and currently we are having a discount of 30% with the code 30OFF, I would love if you could share it with your readers (I can make a custom discount code if you want) and maybe you like something yourself as well!!! 🙂
Bye xx Have a great day!
http://stylingscrapbooks.com/
I make the worst messes in my car. Any tips for cleaning coffee that spilled on the door and into the speaker on the door? It looks horrible and nothing I try works. I have taken my mats to a commercial laundromat and washed them, then air-dried in the driveway. They looked like new!