How long would the lists be? On what kinds of containers? Ummmm..... how about putting little electrical toggle switches on the containers, one per item? You wouldn't have to wire the switches up to anything, just use them as a visual "in/out" representation.

For recurrent shopping, I made a list, laminated it, and now I use erasable overhead markers to tick which things I need to buy. I also have some extra lines to write uncommon things I don't usually buy.

Perhaps something similar for you. Make a list of the things you usually have, and laminate it (you can buy cool-seal laminating material at Staples, or you can iron hot seal laminating material).

Packaging suppliers make very sticky stickers (permanent adhesive) that have a shiny, erasable white top surface. They are designed for use in warehouses - for containers whose contents or loading instructions might change.
They can be written on with dry-erase or even sharpies (solvent=rubbing alcohol) and it is also possible to put other stickers onto the surface, such as shipping labels.

They come in some useful sizes, from about postcard size up to full sheet of paper.

Try searching "shipping supply" or "warehouse supply" or "packaging supply" to find them. I'm afraid I have no idea of what they're supposed to be called.

I used them on the lids of totes I used for holding resource materials. The totes rotated to different teachers in the district, and I used dry-erase markers to put their name, school and date on them.

emkay

This forum rocks. Thanks for all the suggestions.

I think it would!