When you're budgeting for a move, boxes are usually an afterthought — until you're standing in a hardware store aisle realizing how fast the cost adds up. Here's a real look at what cardboard actually costs, compared to renting.
The cardboard route
Boxes: Large moving boxes run $2.50-$5 each at Menards and Home Depot — for an average 1-bedroom move needing 20-30 boxes, that's $60-100+ in boxes alone.
Tape, markers, bubble wrap: Add another $15-25 for supplies to actually seal and label everything.
A trip (or two) to the store: Time and gas spent buying materials before you've even started packing.
Your time: Assembling boxes, taping them, and later breaking them all down again isn't free — it's just paid in hours instead of dollars.
Disposal: Once you're unpacked, you're left with a pile of flattened cardboard to break down and haul to recycling or the curb yourself.
Total for the cardboard route: roughly $75-125 in materials, plus your own time, a store run, and a disposal trip — based on real local pricing at Menards and Home Depot, not a national average.
The tote rental route
With a rental service like Totes to Go, one flat bundle price covers everything — the totes, dollies, tape, and markers included. No trip to the store, nothing to assemble, and nothing to break down afterward.
Delivery and pickup are also free — we drop everything off at your door before your move, and once you're unpacked, we come back and pick it all up. You never have to load, haul, or dispose of anything yourself.
The real difference isn't just price — it's what you're not doing. You're not driving to a store, not taping boxes together for an evening, and not stuck figuring out what to do with a pile of cardboard afterward.
If you want to see exact bundle pricing for your move size, our pricing page breaks it down.
