For those who think that people are crazy to buy early and often
 

Retailers: Inventories to Sales Ratio | FRED | St. Louis Fed

The retail inventory in the entire country is desperately low, and needs replenishing. See the graph in the link above. .

So there is a bit of a shared mentality about lack of inventory and availability than just gazoline. . .

finance guy

"Think people are crazy." Do not worry there are only two non-crazies in the world.
You and I. After much study I've been unable to confirm that for either of us.

Toilet paper we are set for at least a year.

Gasoline? In storage it is good for about a month or two. Should you house catch fire
and it is in your garage, the firemen will not be happy. Your insurance company, they may be happy to point to the fine print on their policy.

It's called the law supply and demand. Too many people chasing too few goods = higher prices. It's a basic tenents of capitalism, and always happens.

And the media talking up inflation

News report what's happening. Nothing you can do about lemmings. Heck, look at the gas shortage created here in Florida, because people thought Florida was affected by a pipeline. Maybe gov't should have alerted the people that there was no problem in FL, instead of declaring an emergency. News didn't tell people to go out and horde gas. Did you see some of those pictures of people filling plastic bags with gas? SMH.

Building materials in northern New England have gone insane. (Yes we're Snowbirds). For example, a standard spruce 2x4x8 is now $12. And a quote on material is good for only a single day!

So, we're holding off on our exterior project for now. And hopefully prices are better next year.

All materials have gone insane.