Woman Finds Aluminum Foil for $14 and the Internet Is up in Arms Over Inflation

Sometimes, we watch TikTok videos to learn about different people’s opinions or see incredible talent. Other times, we hate watch videos that make us angry at capitalism, such as TikToker Deflina’s video in which she finds a roll of Reynold’s Wrap aluminum foil for $14. While we don’t know exactly where Delfina is, we know enough to know that that’s way too much to pay for foil.

As she shares her shock with the world, people quickly empathize and share how they avoided the inflation. But even still, we can’t help but feel the pain of inflation in our bank accounts. Maybe Delfina will be okay, but many people won’t be. Aluminum foil isn’t the only thing that’s breaking the bank these days.

In her 13-second video, Delfina simply says, “Wait, I’m sorry,” as she pans to the $14 price of aluminum foil. And that’s when it’s marked down from $15! “I guess I haven’t bought foil in a while? Aluminum foil is $14? Is this a joke or are you serious?” She’s more bewildered than she is angry and it seems like she’s not actually going to purchase the overpriced aluminum foil.

More of the issue is just that the foil is there at that price in the first place! It’s truly absurd. Whether she’s at a big brand supermarket or a local store, no foil should cost that much. I even zoomed in on the foil to see if it’s in bulk or if it’s just a regular roll, and it’s just 200 square feet, which is a normal to large size of foil.

For reference, a 150-square-foot roll is $9.32 from Walmart, which is supposed to be a budget option. Their 225-square-foot roll is $14.16, which means that the roll Delfina found isn’t even that overpriced. But the commenters aren’t wrong to remember a time when aluminum foil was $3, probably because those $3 rolls were much smaller in size.

Everyone in the comments agrees that the foil Delfina found is way too expensive, even if that is the standard price nowadays for name-brand foil. Most hoped that she didn’t actually purchase it (which she didn’t confirm or deny) while others were outraged at supermarkets for hiking up prices.

Our best guess based on Delfina’s profile is that she was in a suburb or a rural area, which means that aluminum foil is probably much more expensive at supermarkets in cities like New York City or San Francisco. The fact that a normal size of aluminum foil can cost $20 nowadays feels like it’s out of some sort of dystopian novel.

One commenter even brought up the horrors of inflation, pointing back to the days of our war-lorn great-grandparents who washed and saved their tin foil. Others pointed out that this is capitalism at its finest: bankrupt the middle and lower classes so that the wealthiest have full control over society. We’re basically already there with this seemingly 75% inflation rate!

Many people also started listing other household items that grew in price by two or three times in the last couple of years. Olive oil, butter, deodorant, cereal, limes, toothpaste, zip-lock bags, and other basic items have all hiked up in price.

While not all of these items are necessities, they do make our lives easier and save us time. And we’ve all heard the age-old adage that time is money, so hiking the prices of these items is once again capitalism at work.

Some commenters, however, joked that they bought bulk aluminum foil from Costco over 10 years ago, and that has lasted longer than their marriages! So I guess the moral of the story is if you’re going to walk down the aisle, you should probably say, ‘till our Costco aluminum foil runs out do us part.