Birthday (& Bill Payment) Sticker Reminders

I used to remember birthdays by looking at a list hanging on my bulletin board.  Then, I graduated from college, started working and started forgetting birthdays.  I've forgotten 1-2 birthdays each year for the last few years.  This is especially humbling considering I love birthdays and milestones and I hate that I've forgotten someone's special day.

So, I started brainstorming...birthday boards, phone reminders, using facebook, this, that, and every idea under the sun.  But they each had some failing.  The birthday board was one more thing to create, have to refer to, and update.  Phone reminders were unhelpful since I am still a pencil and paper sorta girl and facebook was yet another thing I'd have to check...

Enter, my solution.  It's incredible!  Not really.  It's simple, which is why I think it'll stick.  I typed up my master list and printed all the birthdays and anniversaries onto label paper (with the plan I can print out a new set each January).  Next, I stuck them on the date in my calendar and I'm set for the whole year.

I printed a label for the first day of each month with a list of upcoming celebrations.

And I also made a label for the actual birthday date!

 

Since I loved this so much I took it a step further and created labels for each of our bills that I pay.  They are simple (company, amount, due date).  I printed enough labels for the year with the company's name on it and due date, leaving the amount blank to fill in as I go.  What I prefer about this method is that if I am missing a bill it will be super obvious to me that the sticker is yet to be adhered to the page.  In the past I just wrote the dates on my calendar but the OCD part of me was left hoping that I did not miss a bill and then pay it late since I had not marked it's due date.

Another step further- for all the repeated events we celebrate (anniversary moving into house, baptism anniversaries...) and for some household tasks (bulk shopping at Costco, spring cleaning, planning Thanksgiving, sending Christmas cards...) I made a label to stick on the date of when I want to start planning for it. 

 

It's like I've emptied my brain onto labels and into my calendar.  It works great for me : ) and if your looking for a super simple solution, this one may work for you!