Keeping your car clean with kids involved

Any parent with children knows that within a matter of seconds your car can turn into a disaster zone. When your car gets hit with spilled milk, cookies and toys, you can see the possibility of ever trading your car for cash vanishing before your eyes. Some parents say "No food!" "No toys!" in the car. But that's not a reality for all parents, particularly if you need to drive for longer than an hour. But there are some great tips to allowing your kids to be happy in the car, while minimizing the mess.

To start, make sure that there are car mats by the feet of each of your children. Car mats can easily be washed and catch a lot of the accidental food drops. In addition these are easy to remove from the car to shake out, and can be used to cover up the cracks where food can congregate. These can be purchased fairly inexpensively at any Target, Wal-mart, or auto supply store, if you need more mats than the ones that come with your car. You can also use old towels for this.

Another easy fix is organizers. These fit easily over the seat in front of your children and make convenient pockets for their toys, games and snacks. These make things accessible to your children in the car but give everything a home. Have your children clean out the car the same way that they clean their rooms. This also limits the amount of things they can have in the car. If it doesn't fit in the organizer it doesn't go in the car. These can be purchased inexpensively through amazon.com. (The Sunshine Stow and Go Kid organizer are great.)

Finally, invest in a handheld vacuum. Kids love these because they are easy to use and make a great loud noise. They also work great. After long trips in the car, have your children go over the car with the vacuum.

Staying on top of this really helps the car not become a disaster zone! These are the basics to keeping a clean car with a decent resale value. This can be done fairly inexpensively in a way that will preserve everyone's sanity!