Most of us maintenance our cars whenever and don't really have a plan. Its a good idea to have a list in your planner or household notebook of routine car maintenance, the last time it was done, and when it is due again. Some things to put sown are oil change, brakes inspected, cooling system checked and tune ups. You should also have an emergency kit in the car with things like a first aid kit, jumper cables, flashlight, blanket and some tools. Also don't forget to check your car before long trips. Make sure all the fluids are up, tires are good, brakes and lights work. I'm lucky my husband does the maintenance to our car and he does a great job. Soon I hope to learn to change the oil and things so I am not totally helpless.

Car Cleaning

So how is your car looking? Between work, kids, car pools, vacations, bike trips, and all the things we do from our cars no wonder they don't always look very nice.

One of the fun things the kids and I like to do on nice Saturday afternoons is wash the car. We get out our sponges, water, cleaners, rags and spray and get down to work as a team. Weekly on your to do list you should have wash car.

The day before my errand day I like to get the kids to help me empty out the car of paper and wrappers littering the floor. And I empty the trunk out so I can fill it with the next days purchases. We try to empty the car every day when we get out of it, but it doesn't always happen. So having a day to clean out the car is a big help.

Then about once a month we give the car a good vacuum and spray it down with interior protectant. We scrub the wheels, check the oil and spray the windows.

We have to baby my car, which has almost 180,000 miles. We are given things to take care of. Let's be good stewards of what we have.