There is an Excel weekly meal planner on my website, and you can use it to organize your meals, and create a shopping list. I hadn’t used it for quite a while, and after opening it this week, I decided it was time for an update.
Category: Excel Templates
Excel Timetable for Your Holiday Dinner
Happy Thanksgiving, if you’re celebrating today! Our Canadian Thanksgiving was last month, so I don’t have to worry about organizing a big dinner today.
If you’re responsible for getting the family meal on the table today, you can use my Excel Holiday Dinner Planner.
Yes, it takes a few minutes to set up, by entering all the food items, and the preparation steps, but it will be worth the effort! You probably don’t vary the holiday menu too much, so you can reuse the worksheet, year after year.
Calculate the Start Time
After you enter all the dinner items, go to the top of the worksheet, and select the time that you want to serve dinner. Automatically, the Excel dinner planner calculates the preparation start time for each item.
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, or leave the cranberry sauce in the fridge.
You can print a list, or a Gantt chart version, to show the preparation schedule.
You can find more instructions, and download links, on the Excel Holiday Dinner Planner page on the Contextures website.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner!
_________________
Track Weight and Nutrients With Excel
Happy New Year! I took a couple of weeks off, and I hope that you had some time to relax too. Now, it’s a new year, and time to get back to work.
It’s tough work staring at your computer all day, so maybe you’ve decided to set a couple of health goals for 2013. I’m getting out for a walk every morning, which is a great way to start the day. It’s good exercise, and all that fresh air helps my brain get going too!
If you’re looking for help with keeping track of calories, or weight loss, you can download a couple of free files from my Contextures website, to make things easier.
Calorie Counting
For calorie counting, try my Excel Recipe Nutrients Calculator. It’s on the Excel Sample Files page, in the User Forms section: UF0016 – Excel Calorie Counter With Recipe Calculator.
For instruction on how to use the calculator, see this blog post: Excel Recipe Nutrients Calculator
Weight Tracking
For weight tracking, try my Weight Loss Tracker. You can choose either pounds or kilos as the weight measurement, and enter your targets and daily data.
There is also a version for Stone and pounds, if you prefer that system.
You can see the instructions, and download the sample file here: Excel Weight Loss Tracker
Good luck, and try to get away from your computer a few times a day!
Video: Weight Loss Tracker Demo
This short video shows how to use the Excel Weight Tracker, to record your progress.
_________________
Excel Budget Template
Are you still working on your budget for next year? I’ve just updated my budget template, and added a page on my website, to describe how it works.
The old version was created in 2002, so it was definitely time for an update! This is a simple budget layout, but might give you some ideas for working on your own workbook.
The Menu Sheet
There is a menu sheet at the front of the workbook, with two named cells – Location and Start Date. The information that you enter in those cells is used on the other sheets in the workbook.
There are four navigation buttons, to take you to the data entry sheets and the report sheets. And those sheets have a Menu button, to bring you back to the menu sheet.
Data Entry Sheets
When you’re in the planning phase, you can enter your budget categories and forecasts on the Forecast sheet.
Later, when you have Actual numbers, you can enter those on the Actual worksheet.
Year To Date Reports
To see how things are going, you can check the Year to Date report, which shows the Actual amounts, up to the current month, and Forecast amounts for the remaining months.
Conditional formatting colours the columns with Actual data, to it’s easy to see where it’s been entered.
Variance Report
The final report shows the variance between the forecast amounts and the actual amounts. Again, conditional formatting colours the columns with Actual data.
Download the Sample File
To see the details, and to download the sample file, please visit the Forecast vs Actual – Variance page on my Contextures website. The file is in Excel xlsm format, and the workbook contains macros.
__________________
Use Excel to Plan Christmas
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!
____________________
Do You Excel in the Kitchen?
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.
___________________
Excel Recipe Nutrients Calculator
A couple of years ago, I posted an Excel Calorie Counter workbook, which has been very popular. In one of the comments, Autumn suggested that I add a recipe calculator to the file.
Updated Excel Weight Loss Tracker
You know how tough it can be to maintain two versions of the same file. It creates twice as much work for you, and no extra rewards! So, instead of having two versions of the Excel weight loss tracker – pounds and kilograms – I’ve rolled them into one workbook.
For now, there is a separate file for the stone measurements, because it has a different layout on the data entry sheet. If possible, I’ll roll that version in later.
Excel Christmas Planner
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.
_______________
Plan Your Holiday Dinner in Excel
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.
_________