We are now a two car family.

One month ago, we moved cross country to California wine country from the city of Chicago. While there are obviously many “pros” to living where we do now, one drawback is that we have to drive everywhere. One car—which we easily got by with in Chicago—just doesn’t cut it out here.

I wrote previously about how we were debating whether to buy or lease our new car. We ended up buying, and I’m going to write a separate post about that process. Today I want to talk about how we like to “trick up” our cars and prep them for a family on the go.

I’m not talking about adding speakers or chrome rims or anything. I’m talking about adding mostly inexpensive, practical items to the car to make our lives easier when out and about. Here’s what we invested in for our new ride:

1)      Baby essentials. This includes shades for the rear windows that cost us about $20. We also set aside a little case in the trunk for extra diapers and wipes. You can never have too many of these… and you never want to be stuck without.

2)      A spare tire and jack. Enough said. While we have an auto club membership, that we can call in case of a roadside emergency, if it’s just a simple tire change that’s needed, we’d rather be able to do that ourselves. $100.

3)      Jumper cables. Both for us, in case of battery failure, and for being good Samaritans in case we come across anyone in need of a jump. $20.

4)      Hygiene necessities. I love having some anti-bacterial gel, chap-stick, tissues, and a few napkins in the glove box. $10.

5)      An umbrella. Seriously – this comes in handy so much more than you would think! $10.

So, for about $150 – $200, we were ready for the road. Some of these things are more nice-to-haves than absolute essentials, but I’ve never regret having them on board.

What else would you add?