Basic Data Entry and Formulas

• 1). Click "Start," "All Programs," "Microsoft Office" and then "Microsoft Excel 2010" to launch Excel.
  
  
• 2). Click the first cell in the second column, cell B1, and type in a label such as "Car Pmt" and press the "Tab" key to save the cell contents and move to the next column into cell C1.
  
  
• 3). Type "Rent" and press "Tab." Type "Food" and press tab. Repeat for additional categories as desired.
  
  
• 4). Click cell A2, type in "January" and press "Enter" to save the cell contents and move down to the next cell in the same column.
  
  
• 5). Type "February" and press "Enter." Repeat for as many months as desired.
  
  
• 6). Click cell B2 and enter in the actual dollar amount spent for a car payment in January. (Substitute headings as desired to create a personal budget that fits your needs.)
  
  
• 7). Press "Enter" to continue entering car payments for additional months, or press "Tab" to continue entering other expenses for the same month. Fill in each month for each category of bills paid. Press "Enter" or "Tab" after typing in the last entry to save the cell contents.
  
  
• 8). Click in the next cell down below the last entry in the "Car Pmt" column (Column B) and click the "Sum" symbol in the "Editing" group on the "Home" tab (it resembles a capital letter "M" turned on its side). Press "Enter" to store the formula for the sum of the car payments for the cells recorded.
  
  
• 9). Click the cell with the "Sum" formula in it. Move the mouse cursor slowly to the lower-right corner of the cell and wait for the mouse cursor to turn into a small black cross without arrows. Click and hold the mouse button when it becomes a small black cross and drag the mouse across the other columns to the cell at the bottom of the last column of numbers. Release the mouse button to copy the "Sum" formula to each of these columns.
  
  
• 10
  
  Click in the empty cell A1 and hold the mouse button down. Drag the mouse pointer across and down the data until it reaches the last column and row that contains data and then release the button. This should highlight (or "select") all of the data entered so far. Try again if the entire range of cells is not selected.
  
  
• 11
  
  Click "Column" under the "Charts" group on the "Insert" tab from the toolbar and click "All Chart Types" at the bottom of the context menu. Click any of the charts available and click "OK" to create a simple chart of the selected data.