Yup, change, first aid, snacks, ice scraper, and small shovel would all be good. I’d also put in an emergency foil/space blanket (not as cozy as a real blanket, but saves space and would still be effective in an emergency). A paper map would still be good, just in case you get left without cell reception somewhere.
These are more optional, but I have a small multi tool in my car, and I used to have like a tool set with screwdrivers and wrenches as well. Both got a surprising amount of use. You could have one of those adjustable wrenches and a multi head screwdriver to save space.
Oh and seconding an air pump. Also, if you have AAA or roadside service with your insurance, save the number for easy access.
Ohhhh I think DH already has a bike-related multi-tool which would be smart. What kind of air pump do y’all have? I don’t know if I could effectively google the right one.
Seems to work fine? You will need to look at the recommended tire pressure on the tire and then stop the pump (pump doesn’t automatically stop at the correct pressure), but that’s easy enough. We specifically wanted one that was small and that you don’t need to connect to any engine parts to make work, lol.
I have a multi tool that has a saw so I can cut off seatbelts if the car goes into a river and it also has a glass breaking tip. Best gift teenage me ever got.
I try to remember to keep an old towel in the car and some plastic grocery bags.
Not car related, but I keep two bandaids in my wallet where the cash goes. Small and useful.
Oh! And impending child. Car bag unless you want your primary diaper bag to come in and out. Diapers, wipes, clothes, emergency ready to eat formula, some baby basics.
I have the same pump as @Sunflower and it has saved my butt! I saw a coworker using hers once and was sold.
I always keep a $20 in my sun visor, just in case I need cash. I’ve done this since I was 16 - it’s one of the things that my dad drilled into me. It’s not as necessary now that credit cards are more ubiquitous but it has been really handy a couple of times (most recently when I was trying to park for an event and they only took cash).
I also tend to keep about 3-4 half empty water bottles rolling around in my car at all times, but that’s not intentional.
Do the toll roads even take change now? Maybe get an I Pass?
We keep snow related stuff, including handwarmers and a WW II trenching tool, plus a blanket and a road atlas that I bought at the thrift store. There’s some bandaids and a bottle of ibuprofen.
We take some of this stuff out if we’re just driving around town and need more room.
I used to keep a $20 in my car in case I had to get gas and for some reason couldn’t use a debit/credit card.
Rain poncho(s)
A few stamps (goes with birthday cards)
A sharpie (write the date on any food you keep in the car - that stuff can spoil /degrade - especially with temper extremes (hot))
Regular pen or pencil and a small notepad
LOL, y’all are WAY more car emergency kit prepared than I am… I have an old pair of hiking boots, some emergency flares that are super ancient so maybe don’t even work any more, uh… my sun shade and ice scraper/snow brush, uh… a bottle of motor oil (but I can’t remember if it is 5W-30 or 10W-30), um… oh I do have a portable air compressor that plugs into the cigarette lighter outlet (I’ve never used it on the car, but I have used it on my wheel barrow tire), and a tire patch kit (the kind that destroys the tire by filling it with goo, but if the tire is real bad it would be worth it). And when I lived in the desert I kept a gallon of water in there. Oh and there is a flashlight in the glove box, but I think the batteries are dead. And some quarters and pens/pencils which may work… or not… at the bottom of the glove box, aka purgatory. At one point there was a screwdriver rolling around in there too, but that’s just because I had changed my license plate and never put it back, for 2 years.
I used to have jumper cables but they got given away when I sold my old car. In 2006.
For a while I had a sheet in there because that was to protect the back from pallets and bins of mulch, but I took it out to clean it and it disappeared.
I guess I need to get some stuff.
(Having a small collapsible shovel is wise in a snowy climate. I once got stuck in a snowbank in SLC and a passerby helped me hand dig the tires out and then helped push me out. I was so embarrassed, but also, I would not have been able to do it alone because I had no shovel.)
But also, I wouldn’t leave food in the car, not with all the bears around here! Probably not a problem in Chicago, unless the racoons there are really aggressive.
Oh, a roll of paper towels is handy to have. Or just 500 paper napkins that you have pilfered from Burger King (along with all the ketchup packets) shoved in your glove box. You never know when you’ll need a paper towel/napkin.
I drive a super tiny Yaris - If your spare tire donut is in a space under the floor of the back (in the hatch area) there might be extra space for some of this stuff - that’s where some of my stuff is.
