Sometimes, there are financial opportunities that come up that are too good to pass up, especially in today’s tough economy.
But the truth of the matter is, in most cases, if the opportunity seems too good to be true, it probably is, pointed out the members of the “Am I Overreacting?” (AIO) subReddit.
Redditor Jems138, a cheese enthusiast, was walking a cheese-tasting trail and came across a rare find that he believed he could mostly resell.
But when his girlfriend left him over the purchase, and he started to discover what all he would need to do to turn the investment around, the Original Poster (OP) admitted he might have been a little overly enthusiastic.
He asked the sub:
“Am I overreacting? My girlfriend left me over a cheese wheel.”
The OP came across an opportunity he felt he could not refuse.
“I (27 Male) and my girlfriend (26 Female) were saving for a house down payment.”
“I work, and she is unemployed. I have saved 32,000, and she has saved 4,000, so I feel like I bear the brunt of the financial decision-making here.”
“I was doing the Oxford County Cheese Trail, and found a vault release. They were selling a 140-pound wheel of 21-year-old cheddar.”
“It was aged using a traditional cloth-bound method thats practically extinct here in Canada, and with over 21 years, it is extremely concentrated. 21-year-old cheddar often sells for 120$ a pound.”
“The farm was selling the entire wheel for 18,500$. If I cut it into 200g wedges and sell it at 60$ each, I can make 38,000$.”
“I bought the cheese wheel and brought it home in my truck.”
The OP’s girlfriend did not take the purchase well.
“When I rolled it into our apartment, at first, she was excited, but when I started to explain the financials and investment potential, she turned sour.”
“She didn’t yell, but expressed she wasn’t happy about how I spent MY share of our house savings.”
“She is now staying with her parents.”
“I think she’s overreacting because she doesn’t understand the Canadian housing market. Our savings are not enough for a down payment without a ridiculous mortgage, and we need to take these opportunities.”
“Am I overreacting? Or am I the only one with ambition in our relationship?”
“AIO?”
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
- NOR: Not Overreacting
- YOR: You’re Overreacting
Some pointed out why they felt the OP’s girlfriend really left him.
“She didn’t leave you over cheese. She left because you’re stupid.” – chicken-cuddle
“As someone who has a family member who manages to lose money on every single investment they ever make, I’m siding with OP’s girlfriend. The giant wheel of cheese is only the beginning…. Run girl.” – Yellow_Blue_art
“It was a good call for her to leave, since he doesn’t have the common sense to talk with his girlfriend before making an $18,000 purchase ON CHEESE!” – Endless_OOP_Loop
“You can’t trust someone who makes those kinds of financial decisions on a whim. Ambition isn’t investing half of your wealth in a specific chunk of cheese. I wouldn’t be able to trust someone who does things like that.” – Bynming
“Is she overreacting?? I don’t think she is reacting enough.” – moonlit_echoes
“If this is serious, and you do live in South Eastern Ontario, you’d best look up the regulations regarding the sale of dairy products. There are VERY strict rules about selling dairy in some cases and you could find trouble. Either way, as a fellow Ontarian, I’ll keep an eye out for an expensive cheese listing on marketplace.”
“Also, if you were my boyfriend, I would be pissed. It’s not about cheese, it’s about shared goals and communication. It’s your money, but I’d seriously question your judgment in making such a rash decision without discussing it if the plan was to be life-partners.” – teatuk
Others pointed out to the OP just how much money he’d actually lost.
“OP, I’m sorry, but you’re really bad at math.”
“You say this cheese ‘often sells for $120 a pound,’ yet you actually paid $132 a pound for it. In that case, it sounds to me like you overpaid and could struggle to turn a profit off it.”
“Next you say, ‘If I cut it into 200g wedges and sell it at 60$ each, I can make 38,000$.'”
“200 grams is seven ounces. You could get a maximum of 320, seven-ounce slices out of a 140-pound wheel, assuming zero waste. At $60 each, that would get you $19,200, not $38,000.”
“Your math is totally off for one thing, and I suspect you’re going to struggle to find hundreds of customers willing to pay $60 for seven ounces of cheese, so most likely you will lose money from this venture.”
“That said, your money is yours to do what you want with, but if you have a partner you are planning a future with, it’s a bad idea to make big decisions like this without running it by them first. It breeds distrust, resentment, instability, etc.”
“You’re supposed to discuss things together and make decisions together. That’s how partnerships work. In this case, maybe your partner could have checked your math and explained how far off your numbers were and saved you from a costly mistake. YOR.” – PA25K
“I’d be surprised if you actually sold it. The fact that you think you can find 300+ people willing to pay $60 for 200g of cheese in this economy is insane lol. And even then, the math doesn’t add up.” – AdAlternative637
“How many people do you know who will pay $120 for a pound of cheese? Do you know how to safely store it until sold? Do you know the health laws for selling cheese? Do you know the tax laws for this business you are starting?”
“Your girlfriend is probably tired of your harebrained schemes.” – Holiday_Trainer_2657
“It wasn’t even a scheme. He walked onto a farm and in a few minutes, the owner talked him into spending half his savings on cheese that he doesn’t know how to resell. It’s the gullibility and lack of a plan that has her rightfully angry. Like, is he going to spend the mortgage money on magic beans?” – Usually_Sunny
“Maybe he can use the rest of his savings to rent a small storefront and sell his cheese from there and maybe people won’t be so wary and suspicious of where and how it was stored, etc.”
“I hope he doesn’t plan on walking up to people with a backpack of cheese and try to sell it.”
“Hopefully, this won’t end badly if he tells people he’s got those grams and one of the people happens to be an undercover agent thinking OP is moving weight. Imagine the shock once the agency finds out during the raid that the grams is cheese.”
“Maybe he’ll sell some at his job if he could leave a sample cheese tray in the break room with his contact info.” – HarryWiz
The OP shared a second post of his new focus on cheese after his girlfriend broke up with him.
“My girlfriend left me for the 21-year-old cheese wheel. Now my landlord is trying to evict me for ‘commercial activity.'”
After the OP’s girlfriend left him, he focused on his cheese business.
“My girlfriend is no longer in the picture. She cracked due to low risk tolerance, so I’ve decided to go all in on the business.”
“I initially tried to return the wheel to the distributor to recoup some capital, thinking they’d have some pity. They were actually considering it until they came out to look at it in my truck.”
“Apparently, the minor heat damage I caused to the paraffin wax while trying to open it last week compromised the wheel, which was already non-refundable in the first place.”
“It has a thick black paraffin wax covering it, and underneath that is cheesecloth, and underneath the cheesecloth is the 21-year-aged heritage cheddar.”
“I damaged the paraffin wax trying to open it, so I put duct tape over it to keep it sealed.”
The OP decided to make his success happen on his own.
“Since I’m now stuck with a 140lb, 30,000+ asset, I had to pivot to asset protection and keep what I still have.”
“I went out and bought a True TBB-2-HC 59” solid door back bar cooler, a professional digital temperature humidity controller, an industrial humidifier, a vacuum sealer, and ripening mats. Total cost was about 8.5k after taxes. Expensive, yes, but I wasn’t going to let a30,000+$ investment depreciate in value.”
“The delivery was difficult. My apartment door is narrow, so I had to take the door entirely off the hinges and shimmy the cooler into the living room. I had maybe a millimeter of clearance between the frame and the unit.”
The OP’s landlord did not share his enthusiasm.
“I was exhausted and excited, so I started researching installation on my phone before putting my front door back on. That’s when my landlord walked in. Apparently, he believes my door being off the hinges somehow removes my reasonable right to privacy.”
‘We already have a strained relationship because of my own use of the unit. He still holds a grudge because I was doing some light metal fabrication with a CONSUMER plasma cutter in my kitchen a few months ago.”
“He saw the cooler, the vacuum sealer, and the wheel of heritage cheese and started crying about commercial operations and fire hazards.”
“I told him very clearly: The cheese is for personal consumption. There is nothing in my lease that limits how much dairy a tenant can own.”
“The next morning, I found an eviction notice in my mailbox. It’s riddled with spelling errors as if written in haste. I’m already preparing my defense for the Landlord Tenant Board.”
“AIO? I’m being evicted over dietary preferences as far as the landlord is concerned, and I feel like this is an unlawful action.”
“AIO?”
Fellow Redditors were alarmed by where the OP’s cheese journey was going.
“YOR.”
“Brother, what the f**k?”
“This is some manic bipolar stuff. You spent nearly all your savings on a wheel of cheese with zero equipment, knowledge, or distribution network. You think some grocery store is gonna just say, ‘Sure thing, boss, we will buy cheese from a rando?’ Are you even licensed to sell a food product?”
“And your landlord is correct, you are trying to skirt the leasing rules, and you know it. If he took you to court, they would definitely side with him when they hear your defense of ‘I bought 25k of cheese and equipment cause I just like cheese that much.'”
“Seriously, if you are feeling like you don’t need much sleep right now, are in pretty good spirits, feel like everyone but you is wrong, etc…you may be having a manic episode. Talk to a doctor, please.” – MadWorldX1
“YOR. You aren’t being evicted because ‘dietary preferences.’ You’re being evicted because you were caught trying to set up a commercial distribution center for cheese in your apartment and are lying about it.” – Lyle_Norg
“If this is real… I’m about 90% sure you have bipolar manic depression. You are currently in a manic episode.”
“Do you sleep less than five and a half hours a night when you are starting a new venture?”
“Do you occasionally completely lose interest in your new ventures, get frustrated with yourself, and then need to sleep a lot?” – Infamous_Ad3339
“Ah, I was feeling absolutely terrible at 2:20 AM scrolling reddit but this has given me so much joy reading.”
“A story about a non-refundable cheese wheel is GENIUS!!”
“‘There is nothing in my lease that limits how much dairy a tenant can own…’ I mean, that’s just incredible.” – Understateable
“This is the type of fresh storytelling content we deserve in 2026.” – pinkmijina
The OP might have been super enthusiastic about his cheese purchase and how he could potentially experience the sweet, sweet deal of a great return on investment, but the subreddit sided with his ex-girlfriend and his landlord because of the risks and the staggering number of investments he was making just to make this cheese wheel work out.
It seems the story is far from over, and we might have the next great Reddit legend on our hands.