Introducing Cozi--The Best Family Planner Ever and It's Free!

Hey friends, if you've never heard of Cozi, you are in for a real treat!Cozi is the next best thing to sliced bread for the busy homemaker.

No, they aren't paying me a thing to promote them....I just LOVE it!! I had tried it a year ago or more and didn't have 'time' to work with it.  Now I regret that as I could have enjoyed the ease of getting things done months earlier!

I finally dropped by again, while hunting for a recipe and decided to give it one more go.  What does the program include? You'll be surprised at just how extensive the list of features is.

A POWERFUL Family Calendar

A family calendar that lets you type in an entry like...Jacob's Job Oct 14 5:30-10:00pm and can you believe it? Cozi is so smart that it puts the info into the correct slots(date, time, person)  and then puts the entry in the right square on the calendar! Phenomenal! 

This extensive calendar program lets you pick colors for every family member so you can see where everyone is at any time. (As you can see we sure need that at our house!)

It also imports any published online calendar with a url and even has something special for public school calendars. If you are in a club or group with a published calendar, it can be added in.

Plus, it links up a map whenever you type in an exact address on a date entry. This I LOVE! (I need a map for everything.)  When you are all done..just email or text the calendar to hubby and the kids. For special events you can also set reminders for appropriate family members.

Recipes, Meal Planning and Grocery Shopping Tools

Cozi makes this whole process fast, easy, almost painless. :o) They synchronize everything with your calendar and online recipes and then let you text or email the grocery list to...say..hubby..or kids on the road...or to your own cell phone, so you don't even have to print out the list. Just take it with you on your cell phone! This is my TOP favorite feature!! I love how their apps for communicating and using their programs with cell phones.
 
Cozy also makes trying out new recipes like their Tested and Tried 25 Top Family Favorites which are simple and easy to make. And it has a huge data base of excellent recipes from Better Homes and Gardens: the geniuses who put this thing together.  Aren't you tired of getting stuck in a dinner rut? Some days, my brain just won't put it together.

This week I made two of their recipes. The family loved the Panko Parmesan Chicken. Yumm-Y!

Pick out your recipes, assign them to dates on your family calendar (with convenient and simple tools) then save them to your grocery list.  You can even use the repeat feature on the calendar to assign a favorite meal for 'once a week'  or once a month--whatever you like!

It adds all the ingredients to your grocery list.  You can go back and type in titles like Canned Goods or Dairy products and then group all the like items together and delete any items that are already in the pantry. You can also add a 'master list' of staples from their list of lists. Now you have an organized list to send to hubby. :o)

There's much more...in the food area. This just scratches the surface!

 

What about chores? How about all those 'To Do' lists? Planning a birthday party? Cozi makes it all so simple! You can make as many lists as you like, color code them, assign the whole list or individual tasks to whoever you like. Text or email the lists or just print them.

Any FlyLady fans out there? (I am!)  They are the ones who introduced me to Cozi. In fact, one feature dear to my heart is that you can import FlyLady lists and sync them to your calendar or just add them to a list..and of course DELEGATE some of those tasks to the kids. :o
  
Whichever list is most important can be put at the top of your 'list of lists' and it will show on your main home page.  That's the part I love best...the home page. Here is where Cozi puts it all together for you so beautifully!

Every part...the lists, the calendar, grocery list, a text message box (great for messages to teens or hubby while they are on the road or at school or work!), it's all right here.

The Family Journal (mini-blog)

I know we bloggers may not be quite as excited about this feature as some..but then again, maybe you will like it. Frankly, I don't like sharing all of my personal family life here on Comin' Home and it's hard for family members to figure out the 'blogging world'. Cozi has the perfect solution!

They've set up a simple journal page where you can write tid-bits and highlights of the day, plus add a picture. Simple, short, and sweet. The best part..is you can post it to your Facebook profile with one click! You can also email the post to Grandparents who may not be 'in' to the whole online world thing.

And it looks so nice on your Cozi home page to see your latest family adventure and best photo first thing when you log on.  Again..there's so much more that can be done!This is just the beginning.

What about some free downloads like this SUPER fun collage program? It uses your My Photos file to make a great random collage and changes out the photos often. The clock feature is a real plus too.  Helps keep the family close by...even when they aren't. :o)

Free or Cheap..and all provided by Better Homes and Gardens. 

I started out with the free version, but quickly paid the tiny introductory fee of $2.99 per month for six months. Later, it will be $4.99. This gives you more room on your 'home page' for your own stuff and removes the adds. Though I have to say, the ads are very enticing. At least they relate to us.Still, it works perfect even with the free version.

Huge Selection of Family Friendly Online Resources
Here's the icing on the cake, my friends. You have to admit the BHG.com is pretty awesome and you can get to their resources very easily from the Cozi sight, but what Cozi has added here that is even more amazing is a family resource extravaganza!
  
It's called Live Simply and it has so many great articles on everything! (If they are my competition..then I'll be the first to admit it--they won!)  When it comes to homemaking, these people have covered every topic you can imagine from planning a birthday party to planning a bake sale to teaching our kids about money.  So many great ideas...so little time to read.

It's so EASY!!

Well girls, I've done my best to fill you in on this amazing program but there's so much there that I'm just gonna have to stop and let you do some exploring for yourself. But I will tell you that the best thing about Cozi is IT'S EASY.  You don't have to be a computer whiz to figure this out. Talk about user friendly. Cozi is a work of art. That's all there is to it!

Yep..I'm in love...with a computer program! (And a programmer too- Don't worry Hubby!)