#Creating a budget for dummies how to

Senator Elizabeth Warren? No? Well, she’s the mastermind that created the 50/30/20 budgeting rule.Įlizabeth was a law professor for over 30 years before beginning her career in American politics. Position the cursor on the line between the column letters (above row 1) so the cursor turns into two arrows, and then double-click that line.Ever heard of U.S. You can fix this by resizing the columns to fit the text. You've probably noticed that if you type too much text in a cell it'll overlap into the next column.To remove an entire row or column, right-click the letter or number and select Delete.If you need to delete a cell, just click it once and press Del. List additional items on the rows below.

For example, if you're listening the Apple HD monitor in your office, you may type HD monitor into A2 (in the Item column), Office into B2 (in the Location column), and Apple Cinema 30-inch M9179LL into B3 (the Make/Model column).X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Each item should get its own row, and each bit of information should get its own cell. Now that our columns are labeled, entering our data into the rows should be simple.

#Creating a budget for dummies how to

To learn more about entering formulas, see How to Type Formulas in Microsoft Excel.Įnter your items on each row.Click Cancel when you're done browsing.For more info on a function, click the Help on this function. Click any function in the 'Select a function' panel to view its syntax, as well as a description of what the function does.The default category is 'Most Recently Used.' For example, to see the math functions, you might select Math & Trig. Select a category from the 'Or select a category' menu.This opens the Insert Function panel, which allows you to search for what you want to do or browse by category. Click the Insert Function icon, which also displays an fx.You'll notice several icons in the toolbar at the top of the application in the panel labeled 'Function Library.' Once you know how the different functions work, you can easily browse the library using those icons. Click the Formulas tab at the top of the screen.

Follow these steps to get an idea of the type of functions you can use in Excel: X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. After that, the parameters should be entered between a set of parentheses (). Formulas always begin with an equal (=) sign followed by the function name (e.g., =SUM, =LOOKUP, =SIN). Each formula you create contains an Excel function, which is the 'action' you're performing. One of the most useful features of Excel is its ability to look up data and perform calculations based on mathematical formulas.

To add a new blank row between existing rows, right-click the row number for the row after the desired location, and then click Insert on the menu.Ĭheck out the functions available for advanced uses.

To add a new blank column between existing columns, right-click the letter above the column after where you'd like the new one to appear, and then click Insert on the context menu.

To delete multiple cell values at once, press Ctrl (PC) or ⌘ Cmd (Mac) as you click each cell you want to delete, and then press Del. This returns the cell to a blank one without messing up the data in other rows or columns.

To delete the data from one cell, click the cell once, and then press Del.

Alternatively, you can click the cell once and make your changes in the formula bar.

To edit a cell that already has data, double-click it to bring back the cursor.

This bar is called the Formula Bar and is useful for when entering long strings of data and/or formulas.

Notice that as you type into the cell, the content also appears in the bar that runs across the top of the spreadsheet.

When you're finished with that cell, press the Tab ↹ key to move to the next cell in the row, or the ↵ Enter key to the next cell in the column.

Click any cell one time and start typing immediately.