Why the cost increase?

" Any projects you’re doing get put on hold or STOPED?"

Yes. I put off building a house. Not only did plywood and OSB quadruple, but all the other materials (siding, shingles, copper, etc.) increased also. Simple supply/demand. The lumber mills shut down decreasing supply and the government paid people to stay at home and use up that dwindling supply. When the government spends above its means, it creates inflation. Money is not created out of thin air without ramifications. Between the pandemic payouts and the infrastructure spending, you can expect more inflation.

Lumber prices are coming down, and I expect to build the house next year, but I still expect it to cost $50,000 more than a year and a half ago, and I don't expect prices of goods - any goods - to go all the way back to what they were pre-pandemic. Which means, I won't spend more, I'll just cut back my purchases. But most people won't, thereby supporting inflation.

@winnardt... some people have figured out a way to make some money and you haven’t been able to either take advantage of it or beat them at their own game.

This is something I learned back when people were criticizing oil companies for high gas prices. Instead of complaining, I bought stock in oil companies. Same thing in March 2020. From experience I knew what was going to happen, so when the market crashed I loaded up on stocks - mainly Dividend Aristocrats for safety, but also a few speculative plays like Six Flags, Carnival Cruise, Delta Airlines, Dave & Busters, etc. Even the vast majority of my Dividend Aristocrats are up over 100%, while producing unheard of dividend yields, and some of the speculative stocks are up almost 200+%.

You can't change the world or human nature, but sometimes you can take advantage of it. Complaining might feel good, but in our world, unless you have power or critical mass, complaining about major issues is a rather useless endeavor. Instead of complaining about the companies or markets, become an owner of them.