Nosey Rosie’s Tips 56

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Hi everyone! Penny decided to take the day off after all. She helped Dad make vanilla pudding instead. And I didn’t even get a taste. Emmy and Brody did.

 

Sorry I can’t keep my eyes open. I am still tuckered from Typhoid Mary’s visit on Friday. She made an important discovery while here though. This little octopus only has 6 tentacles- poor thing. He fell off a skateboard, so he needed to get 3 of the 6 wrapped, but he got a sticker for being a good patient.

Mom has been trying to declutter, but she keeps being stymied by Dad. Maybe you could all give us some input to help. First off, he won’t let her get rid of a bunch of medicine samples that expired 2 years ago. She tried to convince him that they may not be effective anymore and he needs his blood thinner to work.

Then she told him she wants to get rid of some paperwork. He has bank statements and checks all the way back to the stone age 1970’s. She suggested saving 10 years’ worth would be more than enough, but he wants them all.

I really need some help because if he won’t get rid of anything she is going to start trying to make us declutter and cats should get to keep everything because all our stuff is important.

Well, I have to go rest up. The Great One has a half day of school Friday and will be coming over.

We are joining Comedy Plus’ Happy Tuesday Blog Hop

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70 comments

  2. Your little octopus suffered quite a lot in that fall.
    Rosie, you are tattling…on your pawrents! LOL!!
    Its sort of like that here, too. Hubby keeps way too much stuff…and its rubbing off on me…but a least now I have started *trying* to de-clutter…wee bit by wee bit.

  3. Oh, how well we know the anti-throwing-out syndrome but mama was very sweetly insistent and started with records that do not have to be kept more than 7 years, we think. The other idea to convey is “When we’re not here, think of all the JUNK our dear family is going to have to deal with!!!!”Of course that’s a long way off. And mama just threw out some meds from FIVE years ago and was horrified that they were still here! Your papa needs fresh meds and that’s that.

    1. He won’t care who has to deal with everything. Glad your mama got rid of the old meds. XO

  4. Humans are funny about some stuff – like keeping old paperwork “just in case they need it”. I bet if your Mom threw the really old stuff out your Dad wouldn’t EVER notice. AND old medicine can be dangerous as well as non-effective but humans are pretty stubborn about some stuff that’s for sure. My Mom was hanging on to old calendars for some weird reason – had saved the old ones from 2005 until last year. She threw them out yesterday – yay for Mom! Mom says clearing out and decluttering should happen in “baby steps” (whatever that means!).

    Hugs, Teddy
    p.s. Glad the octopus is healing

  5. Oh dear, your dad is a serious clutterbug! He needs to get rid of those out of date medicines because not only might they be weaker, but their composition could have altered. Maybe he can be persuaded to copy more recent bank statements on a memory stick. It will take time but will take up no space.

  6. Poor Octopus. Not enough legs anymore. You look as sleepy as Precious is. She’s snoozing under the bed while it rains even more. But I am grateful for NO snow with all this in Jan. As far as decluttering, we actually had to move 10 years ago to make THAT happen. Good luck. I just sneak in a bit of extra shredding once in a while.

    1. The octopus came that way with only 6 legs. We have never moved so that is why there is so much clutter.

  9. You can get old bank statements from the bank or on-line if you should need them which you won’t. I don’t keep anymore than a year. I can go on-line and print out anything I need that’s older. For tax purposes anything older than 7 years isn’t needed. The attachment to paper records is real and hard to break. Yum for the pudding.

  10. Oh dear! Old medication is not good.
    It will not be effective. Some people just have a hard time letting things go.
    They invented the word “packrat” for people like the Dad 😉 LOL!
    Rosie, I think you should take a well deserved nap!
    Purrs, Julie

  11. It’s hard to declutter if you both aren’t on the same page. Hubby and I are on the same page and we have a saying, Less is More. It works for us. Good luck.

    Thank you for joining the Happy Tuesday Blog Hop.

    Have a fabulous Happy Tuesday, Ellen. Scritches to all the kitties. xo ♥

  13. Mom will write something to your mom Rosie, though she has very likely thought of it all, already.

  14. I completely understand about the declutter thing. My hubby has “stuff” from years ago and won’t let go of it. He finally sifted through some of it and actually got rid of it but there is still a lot of clutter. I keep tax records, etc. for 7 years and then it’s time to start shredding. Happy Tuesday!

  15. Mom changed her mind. Everything she was going to say is already here. I hope you can’t started with some of the solutions right away. I went thru the medicine thing with a family member. And I myself NEED to get rid of old income tax papers too. Maybe you confined something that says that medicines after a certain date are ineffective or harmful and have him read it.

  17. I think the octopus with 6 legs will do just fine. He may swim a little more slowly, but he’ll get done what he needs to get done. I’m glad he was a good patient.

    Doctors, pharmacists, and even the FDA agree most medications are okay for a month or two past expiration, maybe even up to six months later. Insulin, aspirin, epinephrine (Epi-pens), liquid medication, nitroglycerin and heart medication, especially heart rhythm medication, breaks down rather quickly, do not use those if they get more than about 6 months old, they could be ineffective or even dangerous.

    Other medications might last up to a year, anything more than that and you are really pushing it. Why? Because you don’t know if the medication has been stored at the optimal temperature and humidity level and everything else to keep it in the best condition. An allergy pill that degrades a little bit might still work for your purposes, it might not, but some medications really need to be stored the right way to stay effective.

    As your husband why he’s keeping the old bank statements and papers. Is he worried he won’t be able to prove he bought that t-shirt back in 1977? The fact is, unless something was kept for tax purposes, it’s just taking up space.

    If he insists, keep only your tax returns from each year with the papers proving the filing was correct. Every year of taxes can be kept in a large manilla envelope with the year written on the outside. Even if he kept 40+ years of those, it only has to take up a long drawer in a file cabinet, not much space to devote to feeling secure about proving your taxes.

    If he’s concerned about someone claiming he owes an old debt that was unpaid, tell him they have a statute of limitations on those and they have to have his signature proving he was the person who acquired the debt. Anything over about 10 years old is likely to be unneeded to prove anything.

    Would it help if he spoke to an accountant? A trained professional might help both of you figure out exactly what you need to keep, how long, and why.

    1. Speaking with an accountant is a great idea. He has no outstanding debt so I don’t know what the problem. is. XO

  18. Hee! Hee! About 8 years ago, Mom put all of Dad’s old papers (Dating back to the 70’s) in boxes and stored them in the pump room in the basement. They elebenty million boxes are still there! We don’t have to worry about our toys! Mom says we can’t have a new one without getting rid of an old one. And when she does her taxes, she scans everything, shreds the paper and stores the scans on an external Hard Drive…she says she has 10 years of paperwork on there. Purrs Marv

  19. Rosey please tell mom to share with Dad that the IRS only requires one to have keep 5 years of back taxes…thus I think shredding bank statements from 1970 is necessary. MOL MOL
    Poor octopus..I hope you didn’t use any ‘expired’ medicine on him…he might never HEAL
    Hugs Cecilia

    1. Actually, he is going to be burning brush this weekend so he could burn all the old stuff. 🙂 XO

  21. Mee-yow Rosie you give GRATE tipss!!
    Aunty Ellen iss rite~~meddycations 2+ yeerss old are not effective. Maybee aunty you have to pack them up when Unkell iss sleepin an then when you go out to due errandss, take them back to Farmacy!
    An Unkell does NOT need all those papurrss~~Hu’manss only need to keep 7 yeerss werth of Income Taxess papurrss an a yeerss’ werth of gennyral reeceiptss. BellaSita looked it up.
    Time to buy a shreddur a go cray-cray!
    Octypussy wee hope yore woundss mend an purrhapss you can ree-grow those 2 missin tentycallss????
    **nose kissess** BellaDharma an ((hugss)) BellaSita Mum

    1. Thank you for checking. Mom was willing to let him keep 10 years worth. I hope he grows back his missing tentacles. 🙂 XO

  25. Paperwork older than 10 years? Pitch it!
    Old meds: take them to the pharmacy or a drug give-back, but get rid of them.
    Books that have an inch of dust on them, but you know that you’ll read them someday: KEEP!

  30. Cute picture.
    Clutter can certainly be vexing. I tend to like empty/clean/minimalist spaces, but I’m also entropy-prone and clutter accumulates. The best I can do is periodic cleaning and purging, but it does help quite a lot.

  31. Charlee: “Hmm, a skateboarding octopus? I have a feeling I know what happened to his two missing tentacles …”
    Chaplin: “We don’t think we can help with the decluttering, based on our Dada’s vast pile of outdated technology that’s out in the garage.”
    Lulu: “Dada says they’re spares.”
    Chaplin: “Riiiiiiight.”

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