No organizational tool has been more useful in our household than the Rubbermaid tub. We moved from Kansas City to New York with all our belongings packed in about twenty of the tubs which we bought from Wal-Mart for something like $10 apiece. (They weren’t all Rubbermaid brand proper.) We’ve since used them to not only move them from apartment to apartment, but as temporary and mid-term storage for our junk.
The 24-gallon “Action Packer” version pictured here looks extra sturdy, but is probably overkill for most.
When not in use, they tubs stack inside of themselves, taking up little space. With the lids on, they stack as high as the ceiling in cat-resistant columns. I use one to collect my electronics cruft, cables and such, while our winter clothes and shoes go in two others tucked in the basement. My Lego collection fits in two, comfortably hidden beneath my work bench.
Cardboard is for chumps.
Product Page [Target]
For our last move, the wife and I bought about a dozen cheap, stackable rubbermaid tubs with tops (about $3 apiece.) We used them instead of cardboard boxes for transporting a lot of stuff.
Then, after we’d unpacked at our new place, some of the tubs were used for long-term storage of little-used items like extra sheets, blankets and pillows. The rest of the unused tubs were stacked inside one another and stored in the garage.
I suggest clear Rubbermaid tubs with 2″ masking tape labels, especially for things like holiday decorations and workbench stuff. Their Latchables line goes all the way up to 112qt.
action packers are great in the bed of the pickup, for stuff that you don’t want to get rained on/snowed on, but you don’t want or have room for in the cab. a simple cable-loop and padlock should keep it from walking away, but don’t put the crown jewels in it or anything.