Personally always found tapes more practical than CDs when changing them. CDs scratch and screw up if they land on the floor.
MP3 via flash drive for the win. My current JVC stereo was under $100 and I’m not sure I’ve ever actually put a CD in it. CD players tend to get clogged up with dust from the dirt roads and driveways around here anyway. A 16G ultra-tiny flash drive from Staples holds more music than I can listen to in 4-5 days for under $30 and makes it easy to add and rearrange on the computer without any special software or card reader.