Keeping your accounts organized

Have you heard about any of the recent hacking exploits? People getting access to home security systems and talking to kids - that freaks me out.  (And is one of the reasons we didn't use any sort of baby monitors and have limited our current home automation.)

Hackers aside, getting locked out of your own accounts is frustrating. And, as busy parents, the last thing we need is more frustration or time spent "forgetting our passwords."

As an over-caffeinated exhausted mom, there are few things about which I actually feel in control. I mean like, no-worries, I-got-this-down, kind of in control. And one of them is online accounts.

Here are a few key tips that I follow to keep my passwords secure:

1. Don't use personal information as passwords - no birthdays, names, addresses or anything else that someone could easily find out about you.
2. Use different passwords for each site - If that sounds hard, keep reading, there is a solution.
3. Record your passwords - I prefer a physical journal instead of saving passwords in the cloud. It just feels a bit more secure.

I've used a method for around 10 years that keeps my passwords in order for every online account. The basic premise is that you create a base password that only you know and then a tag-along method that is account or site specific. Then you can record your passwords in a book that you don't have to hide.

And it's worked great. So great, in fact, that I wrote a book about it. The book includes step-by-step instructions as well as a section to record your account information.

So if you're interested in taking control of your own passwords, hop on over to  www.passwordsmadesimple.com to check it out and to buy it.