Have you ever remembered someone's birthday AFTER the birthday had occurred? I have, and I'm always looking for ways to prevent forgotten birthdays. The worst part is that it is usually someone that we think a lot of and wanted to remember their birthday. Daily events just got in the way and took our attention away from that important birthday. I've found that since I use email every day, an emailed birthday reminder is quite handy.

Here are some methods to help remember birthdays. Some are low-tech and some are high-tech.

1. Buy a calendar with large squares for each day and then write in the name of each person on their birthday. Place the calendar near the door so you'll see it each day.
2. Set a reminder using your email client. Email clients such as Outlook have a calendar embedded it them that allow you set a birthday reminder that will pop up a message before or on the day of the birthday.
3. Set a reminder on the calendar of your smartphone. Many smartphones have calendars that you can create a calendar entry in that can be a birthday reminder. Unfortunately, these usually only give you a day or so notice.
4. Use a calendar reminder service such as NudgeMeWhen.com, Google, or Yahoo. These services send email birthday reminders shortly before the event.

One greeting card mailing service goes above and beyond simple email reminders. NudgeMeWhen.com sends email reminders a week before the birthday, a day before the birthday and on the day of the birthday if you select those options. In addition, the monthly subscription of $5.99 includes a stamped and addressed greeting card each month for the birthday girl or boy that is mailed to you. When you receive the greeting card, you open the outer envelope from NudgeMeWhen.com, sign the enclosed greeting card, place it back in the stamped and addressed envelope, and then mail it. No need to search for a birthday card, search for the mailing address or even purchase a stamp.

The NudgeMeWhen.com mailing service not only handles the email birthday reminders, it also handles the entire greeting card shopping and mailing process.

There is some setup required which can be described as follows. Once you are subscribed, the addresses of the birthday girl or boy will need to be added to your account. Double-clicking a date on your personal calendar will open an event dialog box. You select whether this is a birthday, anniversary, graduation or other special event. You then select whether you would like a greeting card to be sent to the birthday boy or girl. If you select a greeting card, you will also need to attach their mailing address to the birthday. These addresses are used to create the address labels for the greeting card envelopes that are mailed out. However, this effort occurs up-front if all the addresses are added at one time.

The NudgeMeWhen greeting card mailing service mails the greeting cards approximately 2 weeks before the birthday so you receive them in plenty of time to sign, add a witty comment and remail. Since the greeting card envelope is addressed and stamped, you don't need to dig out your address book or stamp book. You just sign, seal and send.

Coupled with the email birthday reminder service, doesn't that sound like it will help you remember birthdays?