What to Keep in Your Car's Emergency Kit

We'd like to think our car will always get us where we need to go. But cars aren't always 100% reliable. They might run out of gas, get a flat tire or have engine failure. In the event that something like this should happen to you, it's best to keep an emergency kit in your care. Find out what your should keep in your car's emergency kit:

Your emergency kit should include:

• Roadside flares
• A first-aid kit
• Work gloves or latex gloves
• Two quarts of oil
• Jumper cables
• One gallon of antifreeze
• Brake fluid
• Extra fuses
• A blanket
• A flashlight with fresh batteries
• A Phillips head screwdriver
• A flat head screwdriver
• Vise grips
• An adjustable wrench
• A pair of pliers
• A tire inflator
• A tire pressure gauge
• Some rags and a funnel
• A roll of duct tape
• A roll of paper towels
• A spray bottle with washer fluid
• An ice scraper
• An AAA or roadside emergency card
• Triangle reflectors and flares.
• A pocketknife
• Bottled water
• Granola or energy bars

You can use a cardboard box or large plastic container (such as a milk carton) for storage, so that it doesn't roll around in the trunk and you can quickly find what you need in an emergency. If space in your car is at a premium, you can use a basic version of the emergency kit, with a small first-aid kit; two roadside flares; a quart of oil; extra fuses; a flashlight; a multipurpose tool commonly containing pliers, wire cutters, a saw, a bottle opener, screwdrivers, files and an awl; a tire inflator, some rags, a pocket knife, and a help sign.

Several companies and organizations offer pre-assembled emergency roadside kits that contain essential items in a small, convenient carrier. You may also want to add a few of the items listed above to suit your needs.

Some definitely optional items to consider for your emergency kit include a Swiss Army knife, a good book, a pillow, a bathing suit, some tasty snacks, and a beach chair.

If you live in an area with freezing temperatures during the winter, you should also keep a collapsible shovel in your car in case you have to dig your way out of ice or snow.

Read the full article here: http://bit.ly/1hsqZgT

Choosing the Right Car Insurance

Auto insurance is absolutely necessary for every car owner. If you're a first-time car buyer, the added cost can be scary. But luckily, there are many options when it comes to car insurance that can fit any budget. Keep reading to learn how to get the best coverage for your needs.

Watch out for minimum coverage.

States' legal minimums for insurance coverage should be considered just that – minimums. Jay Edelstein, a Philadelphia accidents attorney, strongly recommends policies with much higher limits. If you're held liable in a crash and only have the state minimum required coverage, you risk being held personally responsible for paying the other guy's damages.

If you don't have any liability coverage, you're responsible for paying for the pain, suffering, and other personal hardships and some economic damages, such as lost wages, that you cause, says Michael Reitman, a Clark, N.J. attorney who handles negligence cases. The insurer won't give you a lawyer or pay for one for you if you're sued. Your assets will be in jeopardy and you risk having your wages garnished if a judgment is entered against you. And, if you don't have coverage and someone hits you, you can't sue, says Reitman. I'm convinced!

Umbrella policies make good sense.

Umbrella insurance is a policy that increases your liability coverage – that is, what you'll owe someone else if you're responsible for injuring them or damaging their property. It covers more types of claims at a higher limit. Trustedchoice.com, a company that represents 140,000 independent insurance agents, says these policies can benefit anyone who drives, owns or rents a home and has assets to protect. Seeing that's almost anyone who has been saving money for a few years, it's something worth looking at. Of course, like any type of insurance, you need do a cost-benefit analysis to see if it's right for you. How much can you afford to spend each month and what do you stand to lose if you don't pony it up?

While you're pondering that, consider this: Nearly 15 of people with high net worth don't have this coverage, Trusted Choice says. An average cost of about $380 per year – or about $32 a month – can get you $1 to 2 million worth of protection. Sold!

Collision coverage raises questions.

It may or may not make sense for you. Our hunk o'junk 2001 SUV – a third vehicle for my two-driver household – is on its way to any charity that might want it, most likely for parts. We haven't paid collision coverage on it for awhile, but I just realized (by actually looking at my policy!) that we've been paying what's known as comprehensive coverage, which covers non-crash things that could happen to my car. I don't care what happens to this car so just saved, well, a whopping $20 a year.

While skipping collision coverage for a car worth $3,000 or less may seem like a smart way to save money, the cost of replacing any vehicle you actually need after a total loss can prove overwhelming if you don't have collision coverage. (We wouldn't replace ours until our teen starts to drive.)

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage a must.

If you suffer a life-changing injury and can't go back to work after a crash caused by a driver without enough insurance, your life and future can hang in the balance, says Philadelphia lawyer Dean Weitzman. The only way you can be adequately and fairly compensated after such an event is to have the highest amount of UM and UIM that you can afford, he says. There's even a way to do that without spending more on your existing policy: Just increase your vehicle collision deductible.

"If you're going to take a chance, take the chance on the property damage," Weitzman wrote on the MyPhillyLawyer.com blog. "That's better than having the unknown risk of having life changing catastrophic injuries and not having the money to pay for care."

Read the full article at AutoBlog: http://www.autoblog.com/2014/12/12/tips-on-choosing-your-car-insurance-wisely/

Keeping Your Car Clutter-Free

Is your car starting to feel a little messy, or even cramped? Keep your car comfortable and clutter-free with these tips from Kicking Tires:

Clean Out the Crap: Don't be tempted to put a lot of crap in your car in the first place. It sounds so simple, and it is. Items that go into your car should be necessities. Ask yourself if your kid needs to bring his 1,000-piece puzzle, pull-toy and swim floatie with you on a trip to the grocery store. Implement the "one in, one out" rule. If your kids must bring a favorite toy in the car, limit them to oneitem each. If they bring one thing in the car, they must bring that one thing back out of the car at the end of the day. (If that one item happens to be a purse stuffed with 20 other small items? Good luck!) One parent of three on our staff recommends treating your car like a camping trip. If you pack it in, you must pack it back out and leave it better than when you arrived.

Group the Necessities: Keep a utility bag, like this one from ThirtyOneGifts.com, in the cargo area to house items like first-aid kits, sunscreen, wipes and diapers, plus anything else you like to keep in there. One mom on our staff swears by disposable zippered plastic bags of all sizes to help organize all the stuff she needs for her preschooler and newborn twins in her car, while a friend uses mesh pencil bags for this purpose. A "to-go" tote is also helpful. Load it up with your daily stuff — library books to return, dry cleaning to drop off, a protein shake to keep you going if a meal is still a while off — and at the end of the day, load the tote back up with everything that needs to come into the house from the car. (Don't forget those dirty socks that have been under the backseat for months.)

Use Down Time (and Recycled Grocery Bags) to Gather Trash: No matter how diligent we are with the above techniques, trash inevitably ends up in the car. Use that extra minute or two while waiting in the carpool lane to grab a plastic grocery bag (keep a stash of them in the glove box) and gather up the wrappers and rogue pieces of Pirate's Booty that have been under the seats for months. Tie up the bag, stash it inside your "to-go" tote and trash it the second your pull into your garage.

Stuff a Sock in It!: To keep small items like coins, french fries and Polly Pocket shoes from falling into the depths of despair between the seats and consoles, just stuff a sock in that gap to close it up. If the stuff in your car stays within easy reach, you'll be more tempted to clean it out.

Wet Wipes are Your Friend: Wet wipes can do just about anything in a car, from cleaning up unmentionables on your kid's child-safety seat and wiping sticky messes off faces and hands, to grabbing dust off the dashboard. Travel-size packs of baby wipes are perfect for keeping in cars, and the crunchier parents among us can pick up a package of these organic ones by Giovanni. They do double duty as aromatherapy for your car, and, because they're individually wrapped, they won't dry out after months in the glove box.

Click here to read the full article: http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2014/12/how-to-corral-car-clutter.html

Gas Prices to Stay Low in the New Year

Are you loving the low prices at the pump? There's good news! According to AOL Autos, the low fuel prices should last well into the New Year!

In a dramatic shift from previous forecasts, the Energy Department predicted Wednesday that the average price of gasoline in the U.S. will be $2.94 a gallon in 2015. That is a 44-cent drop from an outlook issued just a month ago. 

If the sharply lower estimate holds true, U.S. consumers will save $61 billion on gas compared with this year. 

Rising oil production, particularly in the U.S., and weak spots in the global economy have led to a sharp reduction in oil prices over the past four months. Not seeing much of a change ahead, the government cut its forecast for global oil prices next year by $18 a barrel to $83. 

As a result, U.S. drivers will pay on average 45 cents less for a gallon of gas next year compared to this year. Based on expected gasoline consumption, that's a savings of $60.9 billion. 

That may not seem like a lot in the context of a $17.5 trillion U.S. economy, but economists say it matters because it immediately gives consumers more money to spend on other things. Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of the U.S. economy. 

"It would be a reversal of the trend over the last few years where consumers can't stretch a dollar far enough," says Tim Quinlan, an economist at Wells Fargo. 

Quinlan says the price of gasoline is one of the three big drivers of consumer confidence, along with stock prices and the unemployment rate. "Lately all three are moving in the right direction," he says. 

After falling for 49 straight days, the average gasoline price in the U.S. Thursday is $2.92, the lowest since December of 2010, according to AAA. That was also the last full year when the average came in below $3 a gallon. 

While it's not unusual for gas to hit its low for the year in late fall, the government is now saying that these prices aren't just a low point, but instead will be the norm next year.

Click the link to read the full article: http://aol.it/1ruZqpp

Car Seat Changes for 2015

If you have young children, you'll want to pay attention to this! This article from Kicking Tires gives the low down on what will be changing for car seats in 2015. 

Improved Crash Protection
Parents shopping for car seats are already reaping the benefit of the proposed car-seat crash tests. Many new or redesigned car seats such as the Britax Marathon have large side wings that protect a child's head and chest in a side-impact crash. 

The Recaro Performance Coupe infant seat's carrying handle becomes an anti-rebound bar when the seat is installed. These bars, which are used only in rear-facing car seats, are positioned against the car's seat and prevent the child-safety seat from moving or bouncing during and immediately after a crash. 

Muv's Kussen infant seat (photo above) also has an anti-rebound bar, but it goes a step further in its crash protection. In a crash, the Kussen's carrier is designed to rotate into a more upright position in the car seat's base. This allows the car seat to absorb the crash forces by "compressing on the built-in shock absorption system" found in the car seat. 

Higher Weight Limits
It's been a few years since NHTSA and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that parents keep their children in the rear-facing position until at least age 2, and car-seat manufacturers are now offering rear-facing infant seats that have higher weight limits — meaning that the child can stay in this seat longer. Perhaps the most impressive car seat in that regard is the Graco SnugRide Click Connect 40 (photo above). It's the only rear-facing infant seat that has a 40-pound weight limit, according to Graco. To accommodate a child who weighs upward of 40 pounds, the car seat's base extends lengthwise to create a little more legroom for your not-so-little one. Of course, carrying a 40-pound child in an infant carrier will require some powerful arm muscles. 

More Adjustability
From installation to struggling to get the harness to fit your child correctly, car seats offer endless ways to frustrate parents. Recaro's Performance Coupe infant seat has a foot in the base (photo above) that can be easily adjusted to fit a car's backseat, but it also has a dial that allows you to fine tune that fit. The infant seat's harness straps, which can be adjusted without rethreading them through the car seat's shell, also impressed me.

Click the link to read the full article from Kicking Tires: http://bit.ly/1ycXbgm