How do I remember all these PINs and passwords?

As most of us have realized, our memory isn't quite what it was a few years ago, yet we have to remember so much more stuff these days. With so much of our lives wrapped up in our personal computers and other electronic devices, there must be a better way to remember the dozens of access codes.

I have so many different accounts that require me to remember PIN numbers and passwords that I sometimes get lost. ATM codes, passwords for three different computer systems at work, passwords for Twitter, Facebook and this blog. My 401k account has a password and different user name. There are codes to get into my voice mail on my cell phone and work phone. . . I know there are others. . . I just can't remember them all.

To complicate this, some accounts require changing passwords every 90 days.

Consumer Reports offer several tips in this article. Here's part of the article:

Write down your passwords if that is the only way you’ll remember them. Wait a minute—isn’t that dangerous? The conventional wisdom is that this is a no-no. But according to Microsoft, passwords on paper are “more difficult to compromise across the Internet” than those that are stored electronically.

You’ll need to put that piece of paper in a safe place, of course. Muster all your CIA spy instincts and hide the document somewhere in your home, away from your computer, in a place that’s easy to get to only if you know where to look—say, tucked inside the pages of a favorite book, taped to the underside of a laundry basket, or slipped beneath the inner sole of a shoe stashed in your closet.