( Real Simple ) -- Visit a bathroom in a home in the Netherlands and you might find a good idea staring you in the face : a list of birthdays important to your host posted opposite the toilet . Why in that spot ? To assure that it 's viewed regularly . While you may not want to sacrifice your bathroom aesthetics for the sake of remembering key birthdays , the more often you see the dates , the more likely it is you 'll remember them . As founder and `` Exalted Queen Mother '' of the Red Hat Society , an international network of women over 50 , Sue Ellen Cooper chooses to keep her long list of reminders in the kitchen . `` I have a list of every significant birthday taped to the inside of my pantry door , '' she says . `` It 's impossible not to see those dates every time I open the pantry . '' Whether it 's inside a cabinet , on the refrigerator , or bookmarking a page in the novel you 're reading , place your list in a spot where you are likely to view it every day and you 'll always be aware of an impending birthday . Real Simple : How to handle a milestone birthday . Use a perpetual calendar to remember birthdays . Traditional calendars are less than ideal for keeping track of birthdays , as they require you to pencil in all your important dates each year . A perpetual calendar solves that problem by charting the months without naming the day of the week for each date . Find 5-by-14-inch calendars for $ 10 at www.galison.com . You can also download a printable perpetual birthday-reminder calendar ( for free ) at Hallmark.com , or use the Real Simple : Birthday reminder worksheet . Similar to a perpetual calendar but used exclusively for birthdays , a birthday book allows you to jot down birthdays without having to rewrite each date yearly . Keep it somewhere visible , though , such as on top of a coffee table or on your desk , as opposed to placing it on a bookshelf , where it may get lost amid your Steinbecks and Angelous . The 2 3/4-by-4 1/4-inch pocket birthday organizer from Fred Flare ( $ 8 ) will fit in your handbag , so you can commit dates to memory as you wait for your latte . Track birthdays in your day planner . For some , a day planner or a Filofax is preferable to a wall calendar because it 's portable . Erica Ecker , a.k.a . `` The Specialist , '' is a New York City-based organizational specialist who recommends writing birthdays in a day planner with a colored marker . `` Pick a unique color , '' she says , `` so that when you go to rewrite the dates for the next year , the birthdays stand out . '' Ecker also inserts mini Post-it notes as `` birthday alarms . '' Insert one in the planner a few days ahead of the first birthday for which you would like to send a card . This way , you 'll get the card in the mail on time . Once you 've done that , move the Post-it ahead in the book to a few days before the next important birthday . If rewriting birthdays feels like too much of a chore , jot down birthdays on the tabbed section dividers before each month in your day planner . Then you can simply pull out the dividers the following year and place them before each month in your new planner . Real Simple : Look great in your birthday photos . Remember birthdays with computer reminders . With a free membership at Yahoo ! , you can take advantage of the site 's calendar feature , which allows you to schedule all kinds of appointments with alarms sent to your Yahoo ! Messenger account , mobile device , or e-mail address . If you choose to share your calendar with friends and family , they can view your dates and add their own . Cost : Free . BirthdayAlarm.com . This service features an easy interface , e-mail or text-message reminders , a selection of e-cards , and an option to send flowers . BigDates.com . BigDates will remind you of a birthday via a cell-phone text message or an e-mail with suggestions for cards and gifts . You can even sign up for a service that will send a paper card to someone through the U.S . Postal Service ( $ 3 , plus postage ) . The downside is that it 's slightly impersonal ; you do n't get to compose the message in your own handwriting . HappyBirthday.com . Boasting a tasteful , simple , and thoughtful interface , this site assigns each member her own Web page so she can direct friends and family there to input their birthdays , rather than having to collect the information herself . BirthdayPal.com . Birthday Pal keeps track of as many birthdays as you like and will send up to four different reminders per birthday . It also automates the process of birthday collection by sending an e-mail to friends requesting their dates . Get a FREE TRIAL issue of Real Simple - CLICK HERE ! Copyright © 2009 Time Inc. All rights reserved .
The more often you see the dates , the more likely it is you 'll remember them . A specialist recommends writing birthdays in a day planner in bright colors . Comment: Remember birthdays on your computer calendar for easy changes .