It�s great to be able to memorize items, objects, ideas and words but how about numbers? We are surrounded by numbers all the time and are required to remember numbers frequently.

Think about it, social security number, license plate, addresses, phone numbers, dates, prices, zip codes etc. But how do we apply the five Laws of Memory to memorize and recall numbers? Without a system, numbers of difficult to memorize because our mind thinks in pictures, not numbers.

It�s easier to remember a dog eating a big orange carrot than it is to memorize a string of numbers like $32, 554 or (713) 332-6149. But what if you could associate a number with a picture and use many of the same techniques that we have learned already to remember numbers.

Let�s assign each number 0-9 a letter that is a consonant. Then when we need to remember a number we can throw a couple of vowels in with the consonants and re-organize them to form a word. This word can be used to form an association with whatever other image we want.

For instance, let�s assume that we wanted to memorize the population of the United States, which is 281 million. Now substitute the numbers 2, 8, and 1 for N, F and T. We�ll put a couple of vowels in and make a word that spells, �NaFTa.

NAFTA may stand for the North American Free Trade Agreement but in this example is represents the population of the United States. Imagine an image of every one in North America abandoning the country to go to Canada and Mexico all at once.

So why did I choose N, F and T to represent the numbers 2,8 and 1? I assigned each number 0-9 a letter. This is an old memorization trick that works great. Once you memorize the nine letters you will have a system for memorizing any combination of numbers for life!

Here are the number / letter combinations:

Number Letter	Memory Aid
1	t or d �t�and �d� have single downstrokes
2	n �n� has two downstrokes
3	m �m� has three downstrokes
4	r Looks like a reverse �4�
5	h Five fingers on your hand
6	j Looks like the number �6�
7	l or k �l� Looks like a upside down �7� and K is two �7�s� upside down
8	b Capital �B� looks like an �8�
9	g �g� looks like �9�
0	z or s Zero begins with the letter �z�

Before we go on I need to share some rules that go along with this method of memorizing and recalling numbers.

Rule 1 � Vowels are always ignored � the letters c, q, f, v, w, x, y are not ignored also
Rule 2 � Use nouns instead of verbs or adjectives when creating words
Rule 3 � Double letters only count as one letter
Rule 4 � When making a word, use only phonetics

Let�s practice with number system using the letter substitutions and the rules that we just stated. I will give some examples of important numbers and their translations.

	Number	Significance	Translation	Associations
1	138 million	Number of men in U.S.	TMB	ToMB � Imagine that all the men had died and were buried in the U.S. in one monster size tomb.
2	143 million	Number of women in U.S.	TRM	TeRM � All the women in the U.S. served in congress for one term.
3	May 13th	Doctor�s appt.	TM	Imagine May 13this a Tuesday morning so TM could remind you of Tuesday Morning.
4	3413.0	BTU�s per kilowatt-hour of power	MRTM	MR. TiMe � Imagine the clock on the city hall building in the movie, �Back to the Future� that got electrocuted by lightning was named Mr. Time.
5	299,792,458 mtrs / sec	Speed of light	NGGLGNRHB	NaG, GLue, GuN, ReHaB � Imaginean old lady nag, chewing out her husband while he is putting glue on a big gun, sticking it into his mouth and walking into the Betty Ford rehab center.
6	385,000 km	Distance of moon from earth	MBHSSS	MoB, HuSSy, SoS � Imagine a large mob that brings a dirty hussy before Jesus while writes the word S-O-S in the sand.
7	561-9983	Girlfriend�s phone number	HJTGGBM	5, JeT, GiGi, BuM � Imagine five jets in a nose dive landing directly on two people, a shapely girl named GiGi and an old bum.
8	5537 Maple St.	Friend�s address	HHML	H, H, MuLe � Imagine slapping a mule�s behind with your hand twice, as hard as you can, to get it to walk to your friend�s house.
9	11.8%	Percent of U.S. population below poverty level	TTBS	TuT, BoSs � Imagine your boss walking into your office and he has King Tut�s big gold head on his shoulders.
10	$40,816	Average U.S. household income	RSBTJ	RoSe, BaT, Joe � Imagine a big rose springing out the end of a wooden bat and the bat has the name �Joe� branded on the side in huge letters.

These are ten examples of how you can use the Number Code Method to associate pictures to numbers that allows you to memorize and recall strings of numbers. Let�s review some of the examples above.

In example # 3 I used the first letters of Tuesday and Morning to represent the appointment. When you have just two letters that represent one number some times it�s easier to use the letters to memorize the number instead of turning them into an image.

Look at example # 4 in which I used a title �MR.� to represent two numbers. This is acceptable as long as you remember that the title term is used as part of the memorization code.

Example # 5 was perhaps the hardest number for me to code because it was so long. But look what I did; I broke the number down into smaller bites. Instead of finding a single word for �NGGLGNRHB� (which is impossible) I broke it down into manageable strings, NG � GL - GN � RHB. The next step was to code the letters to a word (image) and put the image together using the Laws of Memory.

Refer to example # 7. I used the number 5 to start the memorization code. This doesn�t follow the Number Code Method rules. However, I represented the number �5� by using five jets which reminds me that the number starts out with the number �5.�

In example # 8 I didn�t even use the letters H, H to form a word. As in example # 7, this also departs from the general rule of the Number Code Method but some times its easier for me to use a hand image doing actions to represent the number �5� rather than find some a noun word that contains the letter �H.� In this example I imagined slapping the mule twice with my hand meaning that the number starts out with two �5�s.�

Read examples # 9 and # 10. These examples used good nouns as images to memorize, however, one could be confused as to the order of the images. When reviewing the images you have selected that represent numbers, always include in what order they go. For instance, when reviewing example # 10 in my mind and will always say to myself that the rose comes before the bat and the bat comes before the name �Joe.�

Now that you have memorized the code you can literally memorize any number in the world. If you stay to this system, you will be able to use it forever! Unless some brilliant mathematician invents another number between �0� and �9,� you can always use this system.

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