Category: Excel Templates

You can mock me if you want to, but every year I use my Excel Christmas planner to keep track of all the things I want to do, over the holiday season.

Where Are the Gifts?

I make a few tweaks to the planner every year, and in this year’s version there is a column to note where you hid a present, after you’ve brought it home.

That should prevent those Christmas Eve panics, while you try to find everything. Not that I’ve ever gone through that – I’m only thinking of you! 😉

Black Friday Shopping Plan

This year, the stores are even advertising Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales in Canada, so I’ll be able to use the Black Friday planning sheet, to find a few bargains.

Based on the prices that you enter, the worksheet calculates which store has the best price for each item, and which store has the most deals.

Note: If prices are the same at multiple stores, the first store will be shown in the “Best Price” column.

Download the Excel Christmas Planner

To download the file, you can visit the Excel Christmas Planner page on my Contextures website.

Happy Thanksgiving, and good luck finding those awesome Black Friday sales tomorrow and in the Cyber Monday sales!

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These days, I don’t have to cook too often, but company is coming tonight. So, I dug out a slow cooker recipe, and got ready to brown the meat.

My Excel Apron

Of course, I didn’t want to end up with oil spattered all over my work clothes (shorts and a t-shirt), so I grabbed the apron that my daughter made for me.

As you can see in the picture below, this is proof that I’m an EXCEL-lent cook, but not very good at ironing.

Excel Meal Planner

If you want to Excel in the kitchen, but don’t have a fancy apron like this one, you can use my Excel meal planner.

It includes a recipe selector tool, thanks to Jimmy Peña, so you can search the web for recipes.

Then, pick your meals for the week, and print the shopping list for those meals.

Holiday Dinner Planner

For special occasions, like Canada Day, or July 4th, you can use the Excel holiday dinner planner to organize a meal for a large group, or a fancy dinner for friends.

How long does it take to barbeque a package of hot dogs, and defrost an apple pie?

Dinner on the Stove

And in case you were wondering, here is the dinner that I was browning, when I had to grab that apron.

It smells great, or should I say “Excellent!”, as it simmers in the slow cooker, so I hope the company enjoys it.

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I’m just getting back from a vacation in South Carolina, where I didn’t use Excel too often, except to add up all my Christmas shopping expenses.

If you’re on my shopping list, you might be getting a basket from the Charleston market.

Or maybe you’d like some of the local barbeque sauce or a bag of grits?

Christmas Planner

There are only 10 days until Christmas, and I’m almost ready. How about you?

If you’re still planning and shopping, there is an Excel Christmas planner on the Contextures website, that you can use to help you stay organized.

The Excel Christmas planner has a budget sheet, where you can plan and track your spending.

Christmas Gift List

If you’re lucky, you don’t have too many gifts to buy. But even for a few gifts, it helps to make a list to keep track of costs.

The Excel Christmas planner helps you track your gifts too.

Christmas Tasks

The Excel Christmas planner has other sheets too, including a Christmas task list, so you can keep track of all those important things you’re supposed to do over the next few days.

You don’t want to realize on December 24th that no one has ordered the turkey!

Winter Weather

It was nice to spend some time in the warmer weather, and yes, it’s colder back here in Canada, but at least we don’t have to watch for alligators! Now I’d better go and order that turkey.

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Mock me if you will, but I use Excel to plan the timing for our holiday dinners. Monday was our Canadian Thanksgiving, so it was the perfect occasion to dig the planner out again.

You know that it’s a delicate juggling act, trying to get everything cooked and on the table at the same time. Then, halfway through dinner you realize that the dinner rolls are still in the oven. Oops!

To prevent the senseless loss of dinner rolls, and help things go smoothly, I use my Excel Holiday Dinner Planner.

Yes, it takes a few minutes to set up, by entering all the dinner items, and the preparation steps, but it’s time well invested!

If you’re like me, and don’t vary the holiday menu too much, you can reuse the worksheet, for every holiday.

Calculate the Start Time

Once the sheet is set up, you simply select the time that you want to serve dinner, and the Excel dinner planner calculates the preparation start time.

Follow the List

With the planner, you’ll have a complete list of dinner items, with preparation start and end times. Follow the list, and you won’t be likely to forget those dinner rolls in the oven.

You can find more instructions, and download links, on the Excel Holiday Dinner Planner page on the Contextures website.
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Last year, you might have seen the Excel Weight Loss Tracker workbook that I posted, which used inches and pounds as its measurements.

Even though we use the metric system in Canada, we still track our weight in the Imperial system. (I’m not sure why.)

Stone/Pound Version

In May 2010, I posted the weight loss tracker in a Stone/Pound version, for the people who use that system.

Note: Please consult your doctor for recommended target weight and weekly weight loss goals. This workbook is designed as a recording tool only, based on the goals that you set with your doctor’s advice.

[Update] The latest version of this workbook lets you select pounds or kilograms as the measurement. To download, see the link at the end of this article.

Metric Weight Tracker

If you’d prefer to track your weight using the metric system, you can download the latest version, which uses kilos. In this version, you can enter your height in centimetres, and your weight in kilograms.

The BMI and ideal weight range are calculated based on those measurements.

The good news is that your weight is a lower number in kilograms, compared to pounds. The bad news is that your pants don’t fit any better!

Download the Excel Weight Tracker Metric

You can download a zipped copy of the Excel weight loss tracker, and try it for yourself.

The sheets are protected, with the green cells unlocked, and there’s no password on the worksheets.

There are versions for Excel 2007/Excel 2010, and Excel 2003 on the Contextures website: Excel Weight Loss Tracker

And remember, I’m not a trained medical professional, so check with your doctor for personalized weight management advice.
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There is an Excel weekly meal planner on the Contextures website, in which you can select meal items, and create a weekly shopping list.

Shopping List Problems

In December, I added an online recipe selector, created by Jimmy Peña, and described the new feature in a blog post.

This weekend, Alyssa pointed out a problem — if you select a meal item twice, it’s only added to the shopping list once.

That could cause problems, if you run out of food on Friday, and have hungry and cranky children waiting for their dinner. Thanks Alyssa!

Fix the List

To show the correct quantities in the shopping list, I changed the heading in the original quantity column, from Qty to Meal Qty.

Then, I added a new column, with the heading Qty, and a formula to multiply the Meal Qty by the List qty.

The formula in cell H2 multiplies the Meal Qty by the List Qty:

• =C2*G2

That should prevent any food shortages at the end of the week!

Download the Updated Excel Meal Planner

You can see the full details for the Excel Weekly Meal Planner on the Contextures website, and download an updated copy to help plan your meals.
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The problem with putting a lovely red geranium on your table is that you can end up remodelling the kitchen! (Do you remember that magic geranium fable?)

Excel Weekly Meal Planner

Anyway, a while ago, I posted my Excel Weekly Meal Planner, which let you select meals for each weeknight, and print a grocery shopping list.

All was well in my kitchen, as I happily planned my meals with that useful workbook.

Then, JP from Code for Excel and Outlook, sent me a “geranium” — a copy of my Excel Christmas Planner, with a fancy new Excel Recipe Selector worksheet.

JP’s workbook has code that looks up recipes via web API, and returns the result to Excel.

Find a Recipe

For example, if you’re tired of steamed carrots, you can enter “Carrots” in the Recipes worksheet, and find more exotic recipes online.

Thanks JP! Your enhancement works great, and now it will be easy to spice up those holiday meals.

Remodelling the Excel Weekly Meal Planner

Yes, JP’s Recipe Selector makes the Holiday Dinner Planner better, but it made my Excel Weekly Meal Planner look shabby!

It needed a recipe selector too. In his blog post, JP showed the code for using the API, and had a link to another function that’s required.

Add a Recipes Sheet

So, I copied the Recipes sheet from JP’s workbook, and inserted it into my weekly meal planner file. It worked great in its new location, and I just had to change a couple of references in the code.

But…now the rest of the weekly meal planner looked a bit run down, so I decide to remodel it. After a couple of coats of paint, a new backsplash and a shiny new pivot table, it’s ready for the open house.

Get the Update Version

You can tour the remodelled version on the Excel Weekly Meal Planner page on the Contextures website, and download a copy to help plan your meals.

Watch the Excel Weekly Meal Planner Video

To see a quick overview of how the Excel Weekly Meal Planner works, you can watch this short video.

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