During the summer months my kids and I tend to be out of the house more often for the various activities that we do to keep busy during the summer. I have learned to be prepared for these trips to keep everyone happy and still having a good time. These are great items to keep in the car for the entire year, but I find them to be the most necessary during the summer.
Keep a bottle of water in the car – It never fails when we are in the car, someone is thirsty and needs a drink. My three year old usually has a sippy cup, but I also keep a bottle of water in our car for emergencies as well. If I had to stop to buy a bottle of water from a convenience store every time someone was in desperate need of a drink it could cost us a good chunk of change each month. It’s a rare thing to find a bottle of water at a convenience store for less than $.99, so if I have to stop ten times a month to pick up a bottle of water it would cost us $9.90 a month and over the course of a year could cost us $118.80.
Snacks to keep in the car – Like keeping a bottle of water in the car, I also like to keep a few bags of snacks in the car for emergencies. Good snacks to keep in the car are bags of cereal, pretzels, nuts, dried fruit, or a combination of the four.
Emergency Bag – An emergency bag has nothing to do with food, but has been a lifesaver on many occasions. I keep a small bag in the car of things that we may need while in the car, on a trip to the zoo, or some other short trip. I keep band-aids, ointment, Tylenol, Rolaids, lip balm, and anything else I think we may need while out. Because of the heat in the car during the summer I take this bag inside the house daily so that it doesn’t do any damage to the items in the bag.