A few years ago I bought a laptop with an interesting piece of software on it called Cozi. I started playing with it when I was trying to get organized…but life happens, and I didn’t do much with it. When I started looking for a way to organize recipes I found online, I started looking for apps. I wanted something that was easy to transfer the information to, searchable by key words, and had a feature to add items to a shopping list that I could access on my phone. I looked through a couple of apps, but I didn’t find anything I liked. Then I remembered Cozi. I’d used the lists a few times, on different projects, so I gave it another try. I’m glad I did. Its fit my needs perfectly.
Cozi is a free (unless you want to upgrade for $30 a year) web-based program, that you can access online, through downloaded software, and with a smart phone app. So if I add a job to my to do list at work, I can see it at on my list at home. I like the number of features available in once place. There are a few features only available on the Gold version, and you do have a few ads or pop-up boxes. For me, I’m good with the free version.
Calendars
I don’t use the calendar setup as much, but I can see this being really useful for a family with kids…especially kids with lots of after school activities. When you setup your family in the settings, you get to put in two adults and up to ten children. You add in everyone’s email address and you get a weekly email of your schedule. Each person is color coded, so you can see at a glance who’s doing what. I’ve setup our dogs and cats so I can add in vet appointments, and when they need their shots updated.
To Do Lists
I do like this particular feature. You can set up specific to do lists for each member in the family. If your out and about and need someone to say take the trash out, simply log into your phone and add it to the list. When Steve was into this, we used the lists to assign weekly chores. I’m trying to convince him to try it again…maybe someday.
Meals
Now on to the feature I use the most. It takes care of most of my meal planning for me. There is a recipe box I can put my favorite meals in. I have a calendar that I can either type in meals, or drag and drop any of my recipes I’ve entered into place. Once my meals are planned out, I can take each of my recipes and simply add the ingredients to my shopping list with one click. I can edit all of the items on the shopping list. So if I don’t need something, or want to consolidate similar items its super easy. All I need to go grocery shopping is my phone. I can run around the store checking off items as I go. The only thing, it won’t do is check the sales flyer for my local stores, but I can do that in ten minutes.
For a single program, Cozi really is kind of a power house. While there are other programs out there, this one has a ton of features, I can access anywhere I can get online.
1undomesticgoddess 