Man stores meal prep business in brother-in-law's deep freezer, gets upset when he throws everything out: 'There were 90 trays in there'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Aug 10, 2026 9:15 AM EDT

What is the proper protocol for rescinding a favor towards a family member?

While practicing generosity with our loved ones is important, there is no denying that some are going to take this too far. There are plenty of people who believe that by virtue of being in the same family, they are allowed to do whatever they please at the expense of their relatives.

This kind of arrangement is undeniably annoying at best and genuinely detrimental to a person's quality of life at worst, but how it should be dealt with is very context-dependent. Not every transgression requires a complete scorched-earth reaction. While the unfortunate truth is that the only way to stop some individuals from taking advantage is to cut them out completely, for many others, issues can be managed with a simple conversation. While this can be awkward, it is usually best to try to discuss a problem before doing anything more drastic. At least then you have evidence that you tried to communicate about the issue, even if they were not receptive to this. Part of being willing to be the family that helps family is knowing your limits, and letting others know when they happen to cross them.

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  • A man looks inside a deep freezer with a blue light inside it
    via Pablo Merchán Montes (Unsplash+)

    A man looks inside a deep freezer with a blue light inside it

  • A man had a deep freezer in his garage, which his brother-in-law had requested to use a few months previously, as the one at their house wasn't working. He didn't see much of an issue at first, because he only used it himself once every couple of weeks.

    However, he found himself getting gradually more annoyed at seeing more of his brother-in-law's stuff in the freezer. He felt like his food was getting harder to find, and he then found out that his relative was using the freezer to sustain his small business selling meal prep.

    Without talking to him, he decided to throw out all the food that wasn't his in the freezer. His family was upset, leaving him wondering if he took things too far.

  • Am I wrong for emptying the chest freezer after finding out my BIL was selling food out of it?

    I have a chest freezer in my garage that I've had about six years. Back in spring my brother in law asked if he could keep a few things in it because theirs had d d and they were waiting to replace it. I said yes, there was space.
    via Delicious_Umpire4799
  • I only go out there every couple of weeks. Over the summer my own stuff got harder and harder to find, and then last week I went out for a bag of chips and the whole thing was full of identical foil trays, stacked and labelled with dates and initials on masking tape.
    via Delicious_Umpire4799
  • He's been running a meal prep business out of it. He sells to about fifteen people through a Facebook group. There were somewhere around NINETY trays in there and my own food was in a carrier bag at the bottom underneath all of it.
    via Delicious_Umpire4799
  • I didn't ring him. I took every tray out, put the lot in the wheelie bin, and messaged him afterwards to say the freezer isn't available any more.
    via Delicious_Umpire4799
  • He says that was three hundred and fifty pounds of stock and two full weekends of cooking, and that "you could have just asked me to move it." My wife thinks he's right about that part and that I've made Christmas awkward over something one phone call would have sorted. I think if he'd told me in spring what he was actually planning I'd have said no.
    via Delicious_Umpire4799
  • Close-up of multiple black plastic trays filled with meat and vegetables
    via Richard R

    Close-up of multiple black plastic trays filled with meat and vegetables

  • sunshinebuns Did you actually waste that much food, that is obscene.
    via sunshinebuns
  • GrandMasterFlush Mush YTA. You through away all his stuff with no warning after you said he could use it. Pretty disgusting, ride, and wasteful.
    via GrandMasterFlushMush
  • Carysta13 YTA for wasting all that food. Why couldn't you just call him to tell him to get it?
    via Carysta13
  • gorillaboy75 YTA. What you did was super immature. You wasted money and food just to be petty.
    via gorillaboy75
  • Coconutpieplates YTA. A massive one. You didn't immediately need the space, theybdidnt throw out your stuff, you could have asked them to move their stuff out, you wasted so much food, and like they said; that so much time and effort, and money in the bin.
    via Coconutpieplates
  • OmnathLocusofWomana "Over the summer my own stuff got harder and harder to find" did you communicate that was an issue? or did you silently get mad about it and assume he would mind read your frustrations?
    via OmnathLocusofWomana
  • Fishing Worth3068 YTA. People are struggling and you just threw out that much food?
    via FishingWorth3068
  • blondeandbuddafull With family like you, who needs enemies? A grown up would have said, "Hey bud, I'm wanting my freezer back. Go ahead and grab your stuff out
    via blondeandbuddafull
  • this weekend." You gave him permission to use it. If you wanted to revoke the permission, do so. All well and good. But unilaterally destroying his stuff with no heads up is awful. YTA!
    via blondeandbuddafull
  • z-eldapin YTA. What a childish reaction.
    via z-eldapin
  • bananawith3wings YTA. He should have told you what he was doing, but he did ask to use it and you gave him permission. The fact you threw out all of that food without just telling him he needed to move it is such a move.
    via bananawith3wings

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