>>>BTW mason jar lid and ring sets have gone up in the last day at our local wallymart.. significant rise from 2.38 to 2.96 overnight..<<<
OUCH !!!
Check feed stores, hardware stores, and I found Big Lots was a good place too. I was picking up chicken feed last week and they had regular lids for $1.98 The Amish bulk food store had them for $1.89 - I stocked up on them from Big Lots when they had their sale at 99¢ per box of 12. (I bought 2 cases of 36 boxes - that’s 864 lids), and would have bought more if they had them. Last year they had the pints with rings and lids for $6.50 per case. The brand is inconsequential - Ball, Kerr, Altrista, Golden Harvest are all made by Jarden - the sole supplier... (talk about vulnerable...)
I see you are looking at lid and ring sets... You don’t need rings every year... They are good for reuse over and over. By the way, it is best to remove the rings when you store your jars. That way you do not get moisture in there and rust. I remove them (I have hundreds stored and only use maybe 75 or 80 each year), wash and dry the jars then put them in the pantry or in the box - I do stack some cases - have never had a stacking caused failure - however if I am going to put plain jars stacked in the pantry, I put a piece of cardboard between and it works great - makes them more stable too.
From what I am hearing of the seed shortages developing, the canning supplies may just go out of sight like you found. I have seen where their sales were up 40% last year so I’ll bet this year is going to get crazy.