A fundamental reason we built Excel Everest is that Excel is useful in many facets of life. Recently we’ve been playing around with some templates from Vertex42.com, a site that embodies this to the core, and they’re spectacular. Check them out if you’re looking for an easy way to plan your mortgage, put together a wedding budget, build a contact list, etc. 

Below is our editor’s account of the kick-ass meal planner provided by Vertex42!

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I’m going to describe a recurring nightmare that I have at least three times a week…

It involves me standing in the middle of the kitchen, with a furrowed brow and with some gentle headscratching involved. There is but one question running through my head on endless loop, and no answer forthcoming for the longest time ever. The question being: What do I make for dinner? And here’s the thing: this nightmare is for real! I live it! Every week!

I don’t know about you, but planning meals for my home gets my goat like nothing else on earth. It’s tedious, it’s boring and it’s frustrating. It is also a known and acknowledged imagination-killer.

Imagine my delight, therefore, when I stumbled upon an easy, permanent solution to my problem. And knowing as you do by now my eternal love for all things Excel, imagine how my delight doubled when I realized that the solution came in a neat little Excel package that was… wait for it… free! You see what I mean when I said the Excel Tutorial this time around was manna from heaven?

Well, to cut a long story short, Vertex42 is a site that specializes in Excel templates – of which they have many more than we can count in one blog. You should head over to the site, pronto, and give it an approving once-over. Go on, give it a look – we’ll wait.

Impressive, isn’t it? Exactly the same reaction I had when I first saw it. But as I was saying, the thing that made me happiest was the Weekly Meal Planning Template. The template allows you to download an Excel file (although PDF versions for simple printouts are also available) which you can use to plan your meals.

Here’s what the file looks like:

Enter the date in the relevant cell, and head on over to breakfast. Now this is where things get really interesting:

Because the cell next to breakfast has a drop down button that contains a list that is guaranteed to get your tummy rumbling. Pre-fed into that cell are various options for breakfast – and pre-fed into the cell adjacent to it are options for accompaniments for breakfast. And it’s the same level of convenience in the case of lunch, snacks and dinner – it’s all there – you just have to select whatever you like, and your meal for the week is planned for you.

You can fill in options for the entire week as a one time exercise, and you are good to go.

Ah, but not just that – the file also allows you to draw up a grocer shopping list in the same sheet:

And hey – that’s not the end of it. You can customize the dropdown menu itself!

In adjacent sheets…

… you can put in options that are favorites in your home, but not on the list currently:

And there you have it – a customizable, easy-to-work-with meal planner that cuts out (for ever) the problem of planning for your meal at home. And truly – if this is not manna from heaven… well, we don’t know what is!

Do let us know what you think of this file, and if you want more information about Vertex42. Happy eating!