An album in wav format occupies aprox. 500mb. APE compresses at about 2 - 1, without loss of information (lossless), and therfore uses half the storage space, mp3 VBR Hi (192 or better) compresses at 6 or 7 to 1 with some loss of data. an mp3 at 128bps and 10+ to 1 is very lossy. (I'm sure someone will correct me on these stats if I'm wrong).
Ape (monkey's audio) was developed by Matt Ashland, a member of the J River team and therefore MC will always have the latest encoders and best support.
Your decision about format should be mostly based on the sound quality you will find acceptable in your listening environment and less so on memory capacity.
Also realize that HD memory keeps getting cheaper, so, buy what you can afford now, when you run out of room, just add another or bigger drive then. You should also consider a backup HD at some point, (sooner rather than later).
As an example, my choice was and is mp3 VBR - Highest Quality,(generaly 256kps).
I don't play CDs thru my home audio system anymore, the only audio source now (other than video sound) is my PC using MC. My ears are no longer aware that there is a difference between the PC and the CDs themselves. I'm happy with my choice.
There is no right answer to what format you should rip your files with. The most important consideration is to make sure that you rip your collection at a high enough quality that you will never have to rip it again
I agree totally with bjsolem here.