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Amber’s Home and Office Organizing Blog index

What’s in your trunk?

Clearing Clutter from the Car

Making Sense of What Belongs in Your Trunk

I don’t know if you’d had a busy week like me, but I’ve been hauling a ton of stuff around in my trunk.  Sometimes I feel like a U-haul truck. The trunk is a blessing and a curse. If you’re not careful it can quickly fill with a lot of random stuff. Here are categories of things that seem to clutter up my trunk.

Returns- There seems to be a never ending cycle of retail store bags of returns. 

Recyclables- I’ve been collecting ink cartridges, batteries, and old cell phones from my clients. Every little bit helps. Now I know you aren’t doing organizing each day like myself but perhaps you have to drive items to a recycling drop off site. Or paper to a shredding site? 

Auto/Weather Gear-things that you’ll need if you get stuck along the side of the road: jumper cables, umbrella, a flashlight, a spare liter of oil, etc. 

Donations- this is a very common category you’ll find in my trunk. A Salvation Army or Goodwill stop is a weekly routine for me. Again, you might not be running to donate each week, but I’m guessing you need to return items to a friend, drop off things the church might be collecting for a certain event. I would say anything intended for someone else would fit into this category.  

Every Day Errands- there has to be room left for grocery shopping, Costco, and the farmer’s market.

How do we keep it all in check? 

 I’m glad you asked. Here’s my quick tips to keeping my trunk functional and clear. 

1. Throw away trash daily. 

2. Every time you leave the car, ask yourself: Does anything belong inside ? If so, grab the items. Even if you can’t carry it all, grab what you can. 

3. Invest in some good trunk organizing products. I use trunk trays. They really work well!

4. Keep a list with you inside the car by the dashboard of which errands and returns need to be made. That way you can save on gas and time running errands. When you are in the area, make the stop. 

5. Reduce the amount of car maintenance items and weather related things you haul around. For instance, take out the salt, snow scraper, blankets, and other winter items during the summer time.

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