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 www.hallmark.com, or use the 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, www.fredflare.com) will fit in your handbag, so you can commit dates to memory as you wait for your latte.