Look, Link and Learn: Cozi--- What a GREAT free app!

"Free"
Wonderful word, isn't it?
How about pairing "Free" with the words "Very, very useful?"
Better, no?
How about "Free; very, very useful; and superbly easy to use!"
Got it for you with Cozi!

Cozi is my new favorite free app that is more than an app. It's a tool to keep the whole family in the know about what's going on. We don't all need Outlook or some complex site to get it all  shared!
Bliss!
The homepage is www.cozi.com and looks like this: 




Cozi allows our family to share a calendar, shopping lists, journal space and more from our computers, our phones and our tablets. I am an Android user and it works perfectly for me, so there's no need to have one of the ubiquitous "i" things to make it work. (Though it works great for y'all too!)


Our family accesses our family Cozi site using individual usernames, but with a shared password.  Each person can input his or her schedules or see what I'm doing to know whether I can or can't "take them," "drop them" or pick them up. They also are reminded of appointments that effect them by the color coding...with one unique color per person. There are enough colors for even my dear Guru with 11 kids to use!







This is our family's Cozi page. Note the tool bar on the left that allows even closer access to each part of our Cozi account than the homepage holds. Note the journal where we can all add notes, pictures or anything as often as we'd like, and we even have the ability to share/email it to family or friends who are not part of your account as well.




The Shopping List feature allows us to add things from any of our accounts, print, send to phones, and more. The nice thing is, from my phone I can check things off and add other things very easily.  (From my Smartphone, I have access to all the tools on Cozi as well.)   No more phone calls while I'm in the market to add one more thing. It's an easy add from any device to update the list.
The shared calendar tool is probably the best part of Cozi because it allows everyone to add what they are doing and check on the schedule in the larger or smaller sense.

Every piece of the schedule is easy to manipulate and customize. Easier (by far) than Outlook or Google Calendar. The kids can do it and so can we!

 There are far more tools and ways to customize and use Cozi than you can shake a stick at! For a homeschooling parent/family, this tool can make life much easier and more streamlined. This would be a great tool to keep a daily log in for those with littles and a great tool for those with teens, because everyone can input activities and keep track. To do lists, recipes and tips are easily at hand. I just love this thing!
I had checked it out when it first came out and it's vastly improved and they are updating it all the time. Great!

Check it out. You can't beat free, now can you?