Lexi was shipped to us, and she came in a plastic kennel. I have been using that for her crate. I used it for crate training and for sleeping. After a couple of weeks, though, there were times when I knew I'd be gone for longer amounts of time on occasion, and didn't want to leave her in the crate for that long. I bought an ex-pen. The crate is inside there, with a blanket next to it, and some toys. She will go lie in there on her own when she wants to take a nap. For bedtime, I still put her in her crate, just so she stays used to being in there.
One good thing about that type of kennel/crate is that you can use it in the car. I did that until I got a car seat, but if you don't want to get a car seat, the crate can serve two purposes.
