Purse. Used to always forget it at home but now I just leave it in the car.

Phone charger.

First aid kid (has never been used).

The car is full of other crap that may occasionally prove useful, but is probably just trash.

Spare baggu
Clean growler
Baby wipes
Weird little brick charging block that DH bought that plugs into the lighter and makes me feel a little bit like an Uber driver but means multiple people can charge phones at once
We also keep Armorall wipes but we never ever use them and I'm just going to throw them away

Scissors. Life changing. You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve used them.

In the glove box:
Napkins. So many napkins.
Takeout menus for the restaurants nearest the teams’ usual fields — easier to pass around than the menu on my phone.
A couple pens
A little duster that I use on the dash/console when waiting to pick up a kid.

Elsewhere:
Reusable shopping bags
All-weather floor mats — just hose ‘em off.
Spare fleece blanket.
Emergency poncho and emergency foil blanket.
Crank-powered radio/flashlight/phone charger.
In season: assortment of folding chairs and seat cushions, plus picnic blanket.

Variations on what others have posted:

Light - I have a couple of inexpensive head-band lights instead of a flashlight. Much more useful. I leave the insulation tabs in place until I need to use it.

Blanket - I have a moving blanket, which can be used for cushioning when hauling fragile cargo, or as a picnic blanket, or as a warmth blanket. It folds much neater than a normal blanket.

Tire care - a 12 volt compressor pump with a built-in gauge, and a tire patch kit.

Nylon windshield shade - doubles as an umbrella for emergency runs between the car and the store/school/work building.

Microfiber towels - the yellow ones from Costco. Can be used to clean glasses, window interior surfaces when they develop haze from off-gassing, fingerprints from the car's touchscreen, phones, etc. In an emergency, can be used to wipe up spills, bloody/snotty noses, or wave around as a bright yellow object.

Anonymous wrote:Roll of paper towels and roll of toilet paper
Rubber gloves
Umbrella
Flip flops
Towel
Rain jacket and hoodie sweatshirt
Console- tampons, reading glasses, at least $20 in smaller bills, change, a lighter, key chain with a flashlight , toothbrush/paste, mints.
I live in Fl. I have used the gloves and paper towels multiple times to move turtles across the road. Also used a towel once to wrap up an injured squirrel I found at a gas station so I always keep an old one in my car.

Roll of toilet paper here as well. I can't believe only one other person has this in their car. We've used it a few times when driving places that were out.

I like to be fully prepared as well‼️

Helpful things:

✔️ Box of Tissues
✔️ Bottle of Water
✔️ Hand Sanitizer
✔️ Packet of Wet Wipes
✔️ Extra Mask 😷 (in glove compartment.)
✔️ Mints
✔️ Ink 🖊 Pen
✔️ Sunscreen (to wipe on hands when driving!)
✔️ Hand Lotion (for ALL the extra hand washing!!)

Flashlight
Notepad and pen
Phone charger
Tissues, wet wipes, hand sanitizer
Small first aid kit
SPF, Tylenol, tampons, hair brush, perfume
Spare set of contact lenses
Altoids and protein bar

In the trunk: liter of water, picnic blanket, reusable bags, roadside kit, travel potty (must have if you have small kids).

plastic grocery bags are probably what I use most. Plus:

Jumper Cables
A change of clothes (including a raincoat and a winter coat)
Quarters
Napkins
Basic tool box, incl. flashlight
Umbrella
Lip Balm
Folding Chair


Maybe it's just me:
Juul
6 pairs of golf shoes

Anonymous wrote:Window breaker thing
Jumper cables
tire pressure gauge
flares
flashlight
First aid kit w bandaids, neosporin, children and adult Tylenol
blanket
big beach towel
umbrella
This one might seem weird but a small plastic basin/bucket in case of vomit (has been used 3 times in past 5 years!)
Roll of paper towels
Wet wipes
Hand sanitizer
dental floss
sunscreen
Hats for all family members
hand lotion
couple gallons of water
gallon ziploc bags w change of clothes for each kid
Some type of “just in case” snacks like protein bars, peanut butter crackers
Cloth masks
Loose change
chapstick (I keep it in the glove box where it hasn’t melted all summer)
a miniature hairbrush

I really never would’ve thought we drove around w so much stuff til I wrote this!

Oh and writing utensil(s)

Window breaker thing
Jumper cables
tire pressure gauge
flares
flashlight
First aid kit w bandaids, neosporin, children and adult Tylenol
blanket
big beach towel
umbrella
This one might seem weird but a small plastic basin/bucket in case of vomit (has been used 3 times in past 5 years!)
Roll of paper towels
Wet wipes
Hand sanitizer
dental floss
sunscreen
Hats for all family members
hand lotion
couple gallons of water
gallon ziploc bags w change of clothes for each kid
Some type of “just in case” snacks like protein bars, peanut butter crackers
Cloth masks
Loose change
chapstick (I keep it in the glove box where it hasn’t melted all summer)
a miniature hairbrush

I really never would’ve thought we drove around w so much stuff til I wrote this!

Tweezers, lotion, make-up kit, CDs for each mystery of the Rosary, tire gauge, addition flash cards, napkins, pens and pencils, hand sanitizer.

Scissors - you’d be surprised at how often these come in handy

Anonymous wrote:Tweezerman tweezers. You would not believe what you can see on your face in bright sunlight.

This is a must have!

Anonymous wrote:Okay to leave most of these stuff in a hot car?

The lip balm needs to be something that won’t run out over everything when it melts. There was some discussion at the beginning of covid about hand sanitizer causing fires, but I think that was an urban myth. Other than that, I’ve had no issues.