Cleaning your car can cost as much as a nice dinner out. Save money and wash your car the old-school way: Do it yourself.

Car owners, we know how you do.

You love your wheels, and you do everything in them: eat, drink, apply makeup, store papers, hide trash.

If you're like us, you practically live in your car. And it shows.

Trouble is, keeping it clean can cost as much as a nice dinner out. A no-frills exterior wash isn't bad, most places charge about $8 to $10, but at quality car washes a spray-wax job can bump the damage up to more than $20.

Detailing? That'll be more, way more.

And yet, people fork it over.

Save your money and wash your car the old-school way: Do it yourself.

A soft sponge or shammy cloth, a hose and a bucket of mild dishwashing soap are all you need to get the exterior job done, provided the weather's fair. But a month from now, standing outside holding a cold spray of water might sound less appealing.

You might have to cheat a little.

Here's how:

1. Wash. Visit a basic drive-through, where you can get a car wash for less than $5 in most cases. You're not going to get the car wash of the century. But it'll last you till the next rainstorm.

2. Tackle the trash. Use this rule of thumb: Any item of trash that doesn't fit into your built-in ashtray doesn't belong in the car.

3. Clean the carpet. Industrial strength vacuuming costs usually less than $1 for most DIY vacuum stations. The nozzle's going to be too big to get into all of those dark crevices, but save that job for your hand-vac at home. The industrial vac at the car wash is a good start for de-crumbing your upholstery and floor mats. Do them in that order, to avoid transporting floor dirt onto your seats.

4. Detox the dash. For the dash, invest in a container of Armor All Orange Cleaning wipes ($4.24 at Target, www.target.com), which smell of orange (almost as good as that new-car smell) and leave your dashboard looking shiny. Yes, they may cost more than the wash itself, but one container should last you a year.

With the money you'll save on your budget wash, you might have enough left over to take yourself out to a fancy dinner.