I wouldnt go so far as calling it paranoia. People
are watching and jerks who dont like you
may be willing to report you for very obvious probable crimes. So vigilant caution is warranted.
But I agree on every other point expressed in the previous post.
People tend to be VERY obvious about what theyre doing, often because its simply the only thing theyre doing! I cant count the number of people whos interests and life skills can fit in my back pocket. The guy who cant or doesnt do anything with his day beyond drive a forklift, cook meth, and play his xbox.
As pitubo said, group purchases to make you look more normal. Normal people do buy this stuff, thats why its in stores. I delay my purchases until I can get lots of stuff for various projects at once. My last trip to the hardware store got me wood sealant and two paint brushes for my deck, xylene for my mescaline, roofing tar for my garage, lye for my mescaline, windshield washer fluid for my car, ammonia for general lab use, and a bird bath. No one looked at me funny. One of my friends works at such a store and confirmed speeded out guys really do come in and buy just a turkey baster, solvent, and lye. Dont be that guy.
And dont be the guy who just goes to work, makes DMT, and plays xbox! Be a polymath, a 'renaissance man'. Explore life, develop diverse interests, experiment with more than just drugs. It makes life more rich and full and gives you more resources to come off as knowledgeable, interesting, and legitimate. Once I had to have a laborer walk through my home lab. His eyes got wide and he visibly rocked back, then he got this confused look and said "hey wait, this isnt a meth lab!". I just chuckled and said no, and proceeded to tell him about formulating specialty fertilizers, researching plant growth regulators, and making herbal medicine. I then showed him my garden. He might have noticed I was making THC for my sick father if thats all I was doing in there. I didnt even lie, that was just one of the herbal medicines I was making.
Try your hand at herbal medicine, and not as a cover, really use it. Its quite handy.
If you drink, brew your own. It'll impress others, it'll save you loads of money, it'll give you variety, and its just fun to do. I actually regret that I dont like drinking alcohol, because I love brewing it!
If your getting distillation gear, make essential oils. Its fun. Its also good cover. When you bring that new prospective special-someone home dont be shy, show them your still, show them the organic lavender-and-rose massage oil you made from scratch, then give them a demonstration
Afterwards promise them next time you'll have a batch of organic geranium massage oil ready, "the egyptians used it to keep their skin radiant, you know". That person will love your still.
Have a garden, make your own fertilizers. A phenomenally healthy diet can be absurdly cheap if the vegetables are essentially free. At peak harvest times you'll have excess veggies to give to friends, you can make artisan grade pickles to give as gifts at holidays, you can grow your own herbs and medicines. My garden produces all kinds of stuff. I make my own organic lavender flower hair conditioner, sage flower vinegar for cooking, cold medicine, syrian rue, mescaline, curry, squashes, mint tea, salad, etc.
Mix up your own window cleaner to save money, if you need something try building it instead of buying it, make a flute and then learn to play it!
Try painting. Its fun!
Read poetry. It has nothing to do with buying precursor chemicals but, screw it, why not?
And talk to some old people. You'll notice the interesting ones tend to be the highly experienced and knowledgeable people with diverse interests and fun stories. Not the ones who spent the last 60 years just playing card games and watching football.