Home Depot Finds: 6 Budget-Friendly Accessories For Your Vehicle's Interior

If you have a car, it's safe to assume that it's somewhat your home away from home. For safety and convenience, you'll want to make sure that you have everything you'll need while you're on the road. Whether it's for a short errand or a long-distance drive, there are plenty of essential items you ought to have on hand to make your journey a more pleasant experience.

In case you weren't aware, Home Depot is a great place to source useful in-car accessories. If you don't already have one in your car, you can equip your vehicle with some essentials like a first aid kit for only $24 or a variety of must-have tools. If you need ideas that are more affordable, below are a couple of suggestions for car-adjacent products that you can order from Home Depot that won't break the bank. For the purposes of this roundup, we've highlighted accessories for the inside of the vehicle that are in the below-$100 price range.

Every car should have designated mobile phone cords and charger that's compatible with devices owned by every family member bound to ride in it as a driver or passenger. One of the top-rated charging cables on the Home Depot website is DeWalt's Reinforced Braided Cable for USB-A to USB-C. It comes in four, six, and 10-foot lengths with price ranging between $13 to $21. It's also reinforced with Kevlar fiber, so you can rest assured of its durability. There's also a 6 foot-long USB Type-C Cable from Armor All. Similarly wrapped in tough materials and can be used to charge a variety of mobile devices, it's even more affordable at $4.99.

If your car doesn't have a USB port already built into the dashboard to take in your charging cable, you can get an adaptor that uses your vehicle's cigarette lighter port. The Macally 17-Watt Dual Port USB Car Charger, available at $18, is a basic one that comes with two 2.4 amp slots that can charge up to two tablets or cellphones at the same time. Similarly priced at $17 is the Monster FM-Bluetooth DC Charger. Apart from the two USB ports — one of them for playing music — and 20-watt Type-C port, it also doubles as a Bluetooth FM transmitter. You can talk hands-free, access Siri or Google Assistant, and stream music from your mobile phone to your car stereo while charging your devices.

Having a dashboard camera — more commonly referred to as dash cam — connected to your car is useful for recording incidents that may occur while you're driving. For instance, if another driver exhibits some road rage or if you are involved in a car accident, having a visual record of events could assist in determining who is at fault for insurance and legal purposes.

Although top-of-the-line dash cams are often expensive, Home Depot has a few cost-effective ones that you can buy as your starter device. Armor All's Dash Camera is small and inexpensive at only $15. When connected to your car's DCC port, you can start recording automatically as soon as your car is turned on. If you want a bigger screen, the same company has a high-definition 1080p Dual Dashboard Camera for $45. It has one front-facing and one-rear-facing camera, as well as an adjustable lens and a 360-degree swivel mount for better camera angle control. However, the best rated dash cam below $100 on the Home Depot website is the 122 Dashcam by Nextbase, currently available for $80. Customers love its ease of use and compact design, making it a great starter cam.

All of these dash cameras will need a memory card to store any footage, but one isn't included and will need to be bought separately. A 32GB Micro-SD card by Wyze is available on Home Depot's website for $12.

If you regularly consult navigation apps to compare and select the best travel routes while driving, it'll be great to have a contraption to keep your mobile phone secure and steady where you can quickly glance at it for directions safely. The Tzumi Auto Dash Mount, which costs $16, can grip a variety of mobile phone sizes and keep yours in place so you can check it hands-free. It's equipped with an extendable arm and a 360-degree rotating base, so you can set it at an angle that works for you. You can attach it to any vent, a CD slot, or use the suction cup mount to mount it to any flat surface.

If you need a mount for a gadget to keep your backseat passengers entertained, get Macally's Adjustable Car Seat Head Rest Mount and Holder for $14.99. You can use it to hold mobile phones, tablets, e-readers, and other devices up to 8 inches wide. It's the perfect accessory to have for people with young and easily-bored kids, as well as those going on long road trips.

Unless you're disciplined enough to clean the interior of your vehicle at the end of every driving day, it can get messy real quick and worse over time. This Collapsible Waterproof Trash Can is a must-have at only $16. It's lightweight and easy to pass around, so others can deposit their trash and when it's not in use, you can fold it up and store it.

You can also block the front seat gap and turn it into something more useful with Stalwart's Front Seat Organizer for only $17.50. Compatible with most cars, trucks, or SUVs, these things are essentially storage slots that can hold a cup, mobile phone, and anything else you need to keep next to you. It has a nifty charging cable hole so you can keep unsightly wires out of sight while in use.

Finally, you need to have a couple of organizers situated in different parts of your vehicle to store loose items in. For the backseat, you can get the Bucket Boss Tech Organizer for $18.50 which also doubles as a tablet device holder, or opt for the $13 E-Z Travel Collapsible Tray that comes with its own tissue dispenser. In the middle console, you can set up the Stalwart Collapsible Storage Box — which you can buy for $20 — to hold drinks, snacks, toys, gadgets, and the like when you don't have a third backseat passenger.

For the last row or the trunk area, you can get this hanging four-pocket organizer for $14 or a bigger collapsible storage box for $20.50 to keep things tidy. You can even opt for one that has a built-in cooler bin to store your drinks and other perishable food items for almost the same price.

Whether it's to keep yourself from getting scalded by your car's steering wheel, seat, or seatbelt buckle that's been sitting in direct sunlight, or to keep the inside of your vehicle somewhat shielded from passersby, having something to block your windshield while it's parked is essential. Home Depot has a "Car Sun Shades" category on its website that has a section for products that's compatible with most automobile types.

Plasticolor is a company that makes a variety of accordion windshield sunshades that range between $15 to $19, featuring popular carmaker brands like Ford, Honda, and Nissan. However, the company's most popular variety is a sun shade that features characters from the original "Star Wars" movie trilogy aboard the Millennium Falcon. If you're a fan of the franchise, you can proclaim it to anyone walking by your parked car with this fun themed accessory.

Another maker of windshield protectors that sell products through Home Depot is FanMats. Sports fans can represent their idols with officially licensed sun shades featuring teams from a variety of NCAA and professional sports leagues, including baseball, basketball, football, and hockey.

Since you'll be spending a good majority of your time seated in place while you're in the car, you want it to be as comfortable as possible. You can start with a seat enhancer like the HealthMate Memory Foam and Gel Seat Cushion, which you can buy for $47. It's ergonomic and handy, so anyone riding in the car can use it if needed. It's also equipped with cooling gel cells that minimize heat emanating from your body and a high-density memory foam that conforms to your seat shape.

If you want more than a seat cushion and want an enhancer for the backrest as well, Wagan Tech's Cool Air Car Cushion will keep you comfortable during long rides in the hot summer days, for the price of $38. It has a built-in fan that runs as you drive and distributes air to your back, legs, and thighs. On the other hand, if you need to keep warm, the $41 Stalwart Vibrating Heating Pad has two heating pads situated in the back and seat area that can heat up to 113 degrees Fahrenheit, not only to foster coziness in the cooler months but also provide muscle relief when needed. In addition, the enhancer also has a vibrating massager for more relaxation.

Finally, if you have pets, young children, or often engage in sports or outdoor-related activities, you ought to get a car seat cover like the $36 Wagan Tech Road Ready Seat Protector to keep your back seat pristine.