Here is a fairly annoying problem.
Imagine a chart showing both sales & customer data. Sales numbers are large and customer numbers are small. So when you make a chart with both of these, it looks something like below.
Now, usually to select the smaller, unreachable series, the steps I follow are,
- Select the chart
- Go to Chart Format ribbon and select the series name (as shown below)
But this is a long process with significant click tax.
Here is a simpler alternative. Use arrow keys to select the series you want.
Here is how it works:
- Select one the taller, more prominent series
- Press either up or down arrow keys few times to select the smaller series
- Done!
A quick demo of this feature.
So go ahead and use ’em arrow keys to select & format any element in your chart.
Bonus tip: How to know which arrow key to press?
- After selecting the taller series, look at formula bar.
- It should read something like this:
=SERIES(Sheet1!$B$5,Sheet1!$A$6:$A$17,Sheet1!$B$6:$B$17,1) - Notice the last parameter.
- If it is 1, that means the other series is 2 (or 3 …). So you press UP arrow to increment.
- If it is 2 (or 3…), that means the other series is 1. So you press DOWN arrow to decrement.
Bonus Bonus Tip: How to select any individual data points in the series?
Use LEFT or RIGHT arrow keys to select individual data points in a series. This is an easy way to add data labels or change color of one particular data point.
How do you select unreachable chart elements?
I admit. I have been using the chart format ribbon to select unreachable items until today. But once I realized that we can use arrow keys, I feel empowered. While I am not a keyboard shortcut fanatic, I do believe that if there is a faster way to do something with keyboard alone, we should embrace it.
What about you? How do you select chart items? Please share your tips in the comment section.
More tips: on formatting charts, on keyboard shortcuts and quick Excel tips.
15 Responses to “Christmas Gift List – Set your budget and track gifts using Excel”
[...] Christmas Gift List – Set your budget and track gifts using Excel … [...]
I'm confused: if you spend $10, and your budget is $40, shouldn't the amount in the "Within Budget?" column stay black, since you didn't go over budget?
In other words, since we overspent on the electronic photo frame, shouldn't the $8 cell turn red?
@JP.. maybe Steven is encouraging consumerism... ?
I havent realized it earlier, but now I see it. If you unprotect the sheet, you can change the formula in Column I to =IF(G13=0;" ";F13-G13) from =IF(G13=0;" ";G13-F13), that should correct the behavior.
Thanks Chandoo. I thought of making a shopping list spreadsheet for Christmas, but this is neat so I think I'll use this instead.
Chandoo & Steven thanks for this spreadsheet. But for the sake of a person who has been staring at this megaformula in vain for the last 40 mins and not afraid to ask, would it be possible for you to walk us through the logic used here?
=SUM(SUMPRODUCT(SUBTOTAL(3,OFFSET($K$13:$K$62,ROW($K$13:$K$62)-MIN(ROW($K$13:$K$62)),0,1)),--($K$13:$K$62="-"))+SUMPRODUCT(SUBTOTAL(3,OFFSET($K$13:$K$62,ROW($K$13:$K$62)-MIN(ROW($K$13:$K$62)),0,1)),--($K$13:$K$62="0")))&" / "&SUBTOTAL(2,$G$13:$G$62)
Thanks Chandoo.. This is one of the best budget spreadsheets I've ever seen.. The Arrays are out of this world!! And it's FREE!!
Chandoo, can you tell us more about Steven? Does he have his own site?
JP, I think Chandoo changed it when he changed the currency formatting from £ to $, a negative figure is a good thing in this case. But don't change the formulas, the overbudget and under budget won't work properly if you do. Also Chandoo I think you've accidentally broke the conditional formatting for the alternating row colouring the formula is different to the version I sent you. As for the megaformula chrisham, it gave me a headache trying to get it all working, so I will let Chandoo talk you through it.
Hi,
In cells I6 and I7, I understand that subtotal together with offset function returns an array of ones after which, the sumproduct function gives the desired result.
But I’m not able to figure out the reason for using an array in I8 to return the most expensive gift.
Can’t the formula be just
“=VLOOKUP(SUBTOTAL(4,$G$13:$G$62),$G$13:$J$62,4,0)”
Savithri, Cell I8 needs the array, if the formula was “=VLOOKUP(SUBTOTAL(4,$G$13:$G$62),$G$13:$J$62,4,0)” it would find the highest price from the filtered range (i.e. highest actual in filtered range is $50) BUT then return the first person with that actual, not looking in just the filtered range (so first person on the list with a $50 actual.)
To see what I mean, change the formula, then change all the actuals to $50 then filter for baby, it lists the first name on the list.
But a good question 🙂
Thank you. I now realise that the array is used to get the ‘filtered range’ instead of the entire range, as table array for look up value.
[...] Download This Template [...]
this looks like an awesome excel sheet!! is there anyway i can get it emailed to me unprotected? for some reason, i am unable to download it 🙁 help!!
Hi I also can not download to a mac as the sheet is protected any help would be great
[...] to send her a pricey present. Rather, send a card with a picture of your child. Here’s a cool Excel sheet that will help you estimate your budget per person and let you track [...]
[...] husband and I pour/poor over the Christmas spreadsheet (yes, I do know how dorky that sounds, but we’re not the only ones!), figuring out who should give what to whom. We live at a distance from most of our family, so it [...]