If you are looking for cosplay costumes, be sure to keep an eye out for shady and mischievous vendors. In general, you may want to look at different products as it can save you a lot of money and get the right product based on your preferences. Some sellers offer faster shipping than others. But the most important thing is to get the right product at the right time. In this article, we are going to take a look at a couple of tips that will help you buy the cosplay costume that you want and that suits you best.

use filters

First of all, the biggest benefit of shopping online is that you can check out many user-friendly websites. Aside from this, shopping online can save you a lot of time as you won’t have to walk down many aisles.

All you need to do is use the handy filters to get the product based on your personal requirements and preferences. For example, you can set these filters based on size, color choice, and budget. This will help you get the website to display a list of products that you can choose from.

Consider the size chart

Each seller has their own size charts. Different manufacturers create their own size charts as there is no universal pattern that they can follow. Here’s the thing: You may not want to rely on the size number to make a choice. Instead, what you need to do is find the “cm or inches” on the chart.

Generally, cosplay costumes are made of fabric that doesn’t stretch very much. Therefore, you may want to get a size that is smaller than normal. So this is quite important if you want to get the best fit.

read the description

You may not want to make your decision based on the fancy pictures the store displays. Manufacturers want to attract the attention of their potential customers. Therefore, they include a large number of items and accessories that are not included in the package.

As they do not want to confuse their customers, they include the list of contents included in the package. So you may want to read the description carefully. Apart from this, the color of the product may be slightly different from the color of the products you have seen on your computer screen. So, that’s why it’s important to keep in mind once you’ve read the description.

Read the return and refund policy

Since cosplay costumes are special costumes, they cannot be worn after the event ends. In other words, these costumes are time sensitive. So you may want to place your orders a couple of weeks before the event. This way you will have plenty of time to receive the product in a timely manner.

If you’re running out of time, you may want to opt for the fastest shipping method you can get. After all, it’s better to be on the safe side. Delays may occur due to unknown reasons, regardless of the type of shipping method you have chosen.

Make sure the seller’s return and refund policy is quite flexible. You can also read what other customers are saying about the size, durability and quality of the cosplay costumes you want to buy.

So these are just some of the important tips that can help you buy the cosplay costumes you want.

When my wife and I took our first trip to California before moving here, we saw a large population of Asian Americans in San Francisco. We had come west from Massachusetts, in part because the state we lived in felt like it was still attached to a round world, and we were looking for the new flat world.

California fits into that more modern heterogeneous model of a flat world state.

As we drove toward Big Sur, we passed several schools where the crosswalk had the letters “XING” carved into the roadway in large white letters.

After seeing them several times, I turned to my wife and said, “Do you see all those “XING” words on the crosswalks?”

“Yes, I have,” she answered, “and I’ve been wondering what they mean.”

Now, by nature, and I hope also by upbringing, I am not an unpleasant person prone to jokes or jokes, put-downs or practical jokes. But for some reason I couldn’t resist. Maybe the devil made me do it…

“Well, ‘XING’ is Chinese for ‘Be careful.’ It tells all the Asian-American kids who can’t speak English well yet to be careful when they cross the street.”

“That’s very good. I knew I liked California, they would never do something like that at home.”

“That’s right,” I told him. “Only in California.”

For the rest of the trip, every time we passed a school and crossed a crosswalk, we sang “XING” in unison (sounds like Shing, just hold the ending for a few seconds).

Until he finally found out. “XING” was just a shortened version of “CROSSING”, like Xmas is a shortened version of Christmas.

After that trip, whenever one of us cheated on the other, the Faker had the right to say “XING”, as in “Gotcha”, to the Fakee.

Now what the hell, flat or round, does this have to do with internet copywriting?

Easy…

If you’ve read this far, you’ve been hooked by the story. And if you were selling “XING” soap or, more likely, a “XING” web marketing scam, you might be well on your way to becoming one of The Converted.

So here is the lesson and the true meaning of “XING”.

Great or even good storytelling is one of the most powerful and seductive ways a Copywriter can take control of your mind. So be careful where you put your brain.

If you let a great Copywriter lead you down the garden path, if you indulge in someone’s compelling story, before you know it you’ll be hitting the “Buy Now” button.

On the other hand, it might be worth paying for the entertainment.

PS: I also bet you won’t forget the new meaning of “XING” for a long time.

PPS, I also know that if you tried to sing it like I told you, you’ll probably hear it inside your head the next time you cross a crosswalk marked “XING.”

With Halloween fast approaching, it’s time to dust off those messy and cobwebbed Halloween games for kids. Depending on the style of party you’re throwing, you may be looking for Halloween crafts, sticky food games, some races, and team games. A good selection of Halloween games and activities will keep the group engaged and the party going smoothly.

Just a little organization will go a long way, so make sure you have a few more games prepared than you think you’ll need. Games can end quickly or if the kids aren’t interested, a couple of backups can save you from any embarrassment. Prepare all the music, props and prizes before the party and make sure you understand all the rules.

When choosing Halloween games for kids, it’s important to select games that are age appropriate. An older child may love the demon and fear of all the scariest Halloween themes and games, while a careful selection should be made for preschool children.

Young children will love games and themes that involve pumpkins, friendly ghosts, black cats, and a handful of not-so-spooky witches and scarecrows. The little ones prefer simple, short games, nothing that requires too many explanations or has many rules.
Many toddler/preschool games are variations on favorite party games that have been given a Halloween twist. Games like Marshmallow Bobbing (a milder variation of Apple Bobbing), Witch Hunt (based on Scavenger Hunt), and Monster Freeze Dance are fun games for little ones.

Halloween party games can be as diverse as crafts, sticky food games, racing games, team games, or even some good old fashioned Halloween games.

Halloween crafts are a great option as they encourage imagination and creativity and kids will love being able to take home their own special Halloween creation. Crafts can be as varied as making and decorating cookies, producing your own Halloween decorations, painting Halloween faces, or decorating pumpkins.
Older kids will love the squishy, ​​gooey games that can be played with food and can even help them think of ghoulish names for spaghetti intestines or cauliflower brains.
Most traditional Halloween games focus on fall and harvest themes. Many involve apples and fall leaf craft ideas.

Regardless of which Halloween games you choose, be flexible and willing to improvise if necessary. Let the children set the pace in terms of the length of the games. If everyone is enjoying a game then let it continue, if not continue on.
And most importantly Happy Halloween!

(Not the movie starring Harrison Ford as CIA agent Jack Ryan)

Safety

Headphones 2Running with headphones results in reduced awareness of your physical surroundings. If you’re running on the treadmill, press playlist. When you are outdoors, being less than fully aware of your physical surroundings compromises your personal safety. Like it or not, all runners (especially women) should run defensively at times. Hearing aid users range from being less attentive to completely ignoring other people, cars, and dogs, all of which are potential attackers that pose a real threat to a runner’s physical safety.

Last month, Runners World Online published a story about a teenager wearing headphones who was hit by a car and seriously injured. He was running a 10K night race and took a wrong turn, veering off course and onto an open road. He didn’t hear the runner behind him yelling a warning.

A little closer to home: Last year, my teenage daughter and I argued about wearing headphones while running. She insisted that she could hear what was going on around her, with or without headphones. I waited until she left the house to run. I put on my running shoes and went after her. I ran after her. She was absorbed in her music, unaware of my sudden presence. I tapped her on the shoulder, startling her away. She’s lucky; Dad is a confident guy.

What is my body telling me?

When you are in tune with the melodies, you are not in tune with your body. When we run, our bodies provide us with valuable information. We learn what a certain beat feels like, how our breathing, heart rate, and muscles respond, especially when the beat is pushed. We continually integrate this data, making the appropriate physical and mental adjustments in response as we run. When we run and receive the same cues that we experience during training, we can stay calm and in control because we know that we have previously experienced the discomfort of running faster and dealt with it. Headphone users can easily miss the subtle cues from their bodies and the race-day lessons that flow from them. It’s hard to listen to music and your body at the same time.

Am I missing a beautiful experience?

Last May, my wife and I volunteered as race stewards at the Toronto Women’s Half Marathon. The off-road course traversed a section of Toronto’s scenic park system. An old woman was walking past me. She stopped and slyly observed, “Those women (referring to some of the racers wearing headphones) are running through the beautiful nature but they won’t enjoy the song of the birds and the smell of the flowers.” Yes, she was right on her first point…and probably on her second point as well.

“I run from the feel of the textures of the earth beneath my feet. I know of no time when I am more alive or intimately connected to the physical world.” Roger Robinson, columnist and author.

The sounds and smells of running outdoors in a natural setting, one of the great joys of running, are no match for iPods.

Hopefully, some readers will think twice before reaching for their headphones when they’re out for a run.

How a person is an adult is largely influenced by how they were raised as a child. An offender background check will reveal any of the following: (1) the child did not receive enough positive love and attention; (2) the child received no positive encouragement (children, like any of us, need validation) and, what is worse, was subjected to humiliation, eroding self-confidence and building an inferiority complex and low self-esteem; (3) the child was cruelly treated through disproportionate anger and punishment. When children do not receive positive feedback and a nurturing environment from at least one parent, the tendency is to seek acceptance and attention elsewhere, often through peers. Then when they become adolescents out of control, we think that is a normal process that they go through, and going through adolescence is the most challenging part because it is at this stage that they are between childhood and adulthood and on the road to find your identity.

Anyone can achieve successful parenting, even with single parents, and no matter the situation. Here are some sound words that can help you achieve this:

(1) Provide unconditional love and positive attention: Love your children just for being your children, not because they excelled in school or sports, not just because they show talent, but just because they are your children. Give them a lot of attention, communicate a lot, give them a hug or a reassuring touch, take time to listen to them. Attend school functions. Enjoy activities with them, do things together, whether it’s a fun activity or chores around the house. Children love and seek attention from their parents; whether they get it positively or negatively depends on what the parents reinforce. If they don’t get positive attention and acceptance from parents, they will always look elsewhere, and peers are their most likely resource. Create a stronger bond with your children and they will always gravitate towards that bond.

(2) Create a positive environment within each child: As children grow, they need affirmation of what they are doing, reinforces a habit or behavior. Therefore, always keep in mind to praise good work and achievements, no matter how small those successes are; for them, it can already mean a lot and this builds self-confidence. Support their interest and encourage them in what aptitude or talent you can see in your child. On the contrary, when he does something mean or unpleasant, do not reprimand him without telling him why, and if you have to do it, do it as calmly as possible and in private: humiliation, especially in front of others, creates low self-esteem and resentment. , and a possible start of hostile behavior. Also, NEVER compare one child to another. Always remember that each child is unique and has their own abilities or characteristics.

(3) Teach them responsibility: love but don’t coddle – even as young children they have to learn responsibility, like putting away their toys, making their bed, setting aside time to study, even sharing small chores around the house – this in particular 2 things, you teach them responsibility and serves as a bonding activity as well. Teaching them responsibility can also be done by showing them that receiving something they want is sometimes a reward for positive behavior, that in their own way they “worked” for what they received. Gives positive reinforcement and encouragement for a fact or action.

(4) Teach them to be kind and helpful, as well as to appreciate what they have. Teaching your children to be kind and helpful creates a kind spirit within them. Similarly, letting them appreciate what they have will create a positive outlook. When my children were growing up, and we would see unfortunate or unpleasant situations, I always told them how blessed they were that they were not in the same situation but at the same time, seeing how blessed they were, to pass it off as kindness. . The best way to show this is when they see this in you!

(5) Give them the gift of inner strength, to accept mistakes, rejection and failure in a constructive way – Knowing that it is normal to fail (and not be scolded for it!) and to make mistakes is a good teaching exercise children inner strength. from the beginning, that things happen sometimes and that the important thing is that he or she did the best they could, not THE best, and that they learned from these mistakes instead of sulking and reflecting on these mistakes. Another important way we can teach our children inner strength is to not give in to everything they want. As parents, we are sometimes guilty of doing this, but instant gratification every time won’t build character in kids, it will help them realize that they can’t have everything they want, but explained in a loving way.

(6) Put motivation in a positive perspective: When you encourage your child to do things, especially in school, teach him the value of doing his best, instead of negative programming. “Study or you’re grounded”: This makes for a short-term negative motivation, rather than teaching your child the value of her future.

(7) To a certain extent, involve them in the current situation; how you handle this will depend on the age of the children. Knowing the right time and the way to say this is crucial. Are you having certain financial struggles? Serious marital problems even to the point of divorce? While these are adult problems, they can be communicated to the child to some extent. This gives them a solid understanding of reality. The key here is to explain it in the least negative way possible without showing bitterness but rather acceptance and optimism.

(8) Learn when to apologize: As adults and parents, we are not infallible. Sometimes a sudden outburst of anger from a parent, or a false accusation, will send a child down. Learn to apologize to them, at the same time this also teaches them to be humble and do the same.

Successful parenting involves a lot of love, patience, and communication. The key is to develop a close and positive relationship with your children and they will come out on top no matter what situation the family finds itself in, even in the midst of a broken marriage or divorce. We only get one chance to raise our children: once they grow crooked, this is difficult to correct. Therefore, the greatest gift we can give our children is to raise them with the right values, attitude, and character.

“If we die tomorrow, the company we work for may replace us in a week, but our family will feel the loss forever. However, we spend more time with work than with family, an unwise investment.”

I am an avid follower of rich lists. Particularly the Forbes Rich List. I love reading about who makes more money than who in the whole world. My fascination is really about how these different individuals make their money. It’s very exciting to find out what they did to get to where they are. It makes you feel like you can easily get there. It gives you aspirations and ambitions. It’s even worse if their passion is in the same industry they’re in; because at this point you feel – “If Bill Gates could do it, why not me?” This is the point where you start to work hard because your inspiration is Bill Gates and you would like to be like him one day.

However, my study on the rich lists comes with a little comparison of the continents. Sure we have rich people in Africa too, but the economic and financial gap between the rich in the United States and the rich in Africa. Take for example the current richest man in Africa; Aliko Dangkote from Nigeria, the wealth of him is estimated at $16 billion. His main activity is cement, flour and sugar. In Europe, the richest person is the Swedish Ingvar Kamprad. The net worth of him is $31 billion. His source of wealth is in retail: he sells furniture. Gustavo Cisneros is the richest man in South America. He is in the media industry and his wealth is up to $4.4 billion. The richest people in the world happen to be from North America; Bill Gates, who we all love and aspire to be one day, has a whopping net worth of $66 billion. He designed the computer and is founder of Microsoft.

What do you notice in the comparison of the richest people on the continent? The first, of course, is the gap between the richest person in North America and the richest person in South America. The difference is a whopping $61.6 billion. Then the difference between Bill Gates and Aliko Dangkote becomes a whopping $50 billion. If we take this research and translate it to the economies of the continent, then we could see which continent is economically better off than the other. We could also determine who supposedly lives on a continent where there is a great deal of poverty. Without discrediting any of these great men who have done well and been inspirations in their part of the world, let’s take for example North America vs South America; South America lags behind by a total of $61.6 billion. So, hypothetically speaking, there is more poverty in South America than in North America. Let’s take North America against Africa. Africa lags behind by a total of $50 billion. So, hypothetically, there is more poverty in Africa than in North America and Europe. Geographically, what you’re probably thinking is that the southern hemisphere as a whole is lagging behind. Maybe. But the reason they are falling behind has nothing to do with their geographic position. The reason they are falling behind is more because of a lack of innovative thinking!

Take a look at how the richest of the continents make their wealth. Bill Gates Microsoft. He created it. It is the genius of him and revolutionized the world. Aliko Dangkote, well, he likes products that we could say are natural resources. As a businessman, I respect Aliko Dangkote, I think he is a great man and his legacy will live on for a long time. However, for us Africans looking for “how to create wealth” inspirations, we only have natural resource feats to admire. All those you could look up to for inspiration in Africa and have made the list rich, exploiting natural resources. They are mine; gold, platinum, oil and many other earth resources in which Africa is rich. That limits our vision of being on the rich list one day. This is not the fault of those great Africans who have done it. In fact, we should applaud them for being so enterprising and finding something on their land to sell. But you and I who don’t have the capital to buy a mine, what happens to us? Well, we have to start thinking about other things that will change the world. Look what North America has produced; Mark Zuckerburg, Steve Jobs, Sergy Brin and Larry Page who created Google. These people with their way of thinking have changed the world. They created innovative products and services that changed the world. They created products and services that everyone uses or searches for. Thus they became great; when thinking of something so innovative, that everyone will want to buy. Who does not use Google? People who do not have internet access. Who does not use Facebook? Well, some older people who don’t understand what social media is all about. Who has never wanted an Apple product?

So by using the richest man on the continent as the economic father of the nation that every achiever should look up to as a distant mentor, what should happen is that those who aspire to be “like” the tycoon should be somewhat interested in your field of work. The notion is that; “If I do this like he did, I’ll be where he is.” Which is not bad. But in the case of Africa where it is about wealth through the exploitation of natural resources, how many of us will go flooding into that industry in search of wealth? And if we do make it into the industry, how many of us will make it?

This is what will change Africa. THINKERS! INNOVATIVE! If we look to government for jobs and capital for entrepreneurial activities, we will remain in the state Africa is in. Why is this? Because as much as there is too much money; money has to be created and circulated. So the government creates additional jobs, the question is how are they going to get that money back or how is it going to circulate back into the country? However, if they invest in an innovative thinker who wants to change the world; the money invested will create more opportunities for the people of that land to find employment. Take a look at Ludwick Marishane from South Africa, who created the FIRST waterless body wash. He invested money in his idea, now his product is sold internationally, he has earned enough money to employ other South Africans and help reduce the rate of unemployment and poverty. If we entrepreneurs don’t think in a global and innovative way, then what will happen is that we will think that we deserve the resources of the earth in which we live. That is why there are so many economic protests. People do not fight for better jobs, they fight to be part of the wealth of their land. However, the real wealth is in their heads.

Entrepreneurship remains the only way Africa can alleviate poverty. However, to be a great citizen of this beautiful continent of ours, his idea must be innovative enough to reach the whole world and change the world. Will your idea get listed on Forbes? Are you able to think outside the land that has wealth and focus on the brain that can create wealth and greatness? Will you be admired as someone whom Africans aspire to THINK like you? Go out, be innovative, be a thinker and change Africa.

I feel like coining a phrase today. Some well-known relationship writers will note the tendency to write books that help parents understand their adult children’s behavior. You will write chapters trying to explain why such children tend to treat their relationship with older adults who love them like a Chinese menu. They have a propensity to choose how they will relate to their parents, sometimes as a partner and sometimes as a child. This, of course, drives parents a little crazy because they would make the opposite choices from the same menu, choosing the child over the partner and the partner over the child in a given situation. The big-name writer will somehow stumble across (hint, hint) this blog and steal credit for coining the term: semi-adult. Remember you heard it here first.

A semi-adult is a legally adult child who is still dependent on their parents in some way. That dependency includes but is not limited to financial, physical, legal, or moral in nature. Due to the child’s dependency, she is not yet able to operate as a peer in the relationship with her parents.

College students whose education is being paid for by their parents are the classic example of what I would call a semi-adult. Conflict arises when the child demands/expects the freedom to make decisions without being willing and/or able to accept the consequences of her action. We tested this when our semi-adult children went through the debit card learning curve.

Conflict can also arise as a parent due to the child’s dependency which demands that the child remain childish in their relationship rather than move towards peer status. Constant negative comments about an adult child’s decisions that cause the child to choose some kind of avoidance behavior is a good example of a parent not understanding the nature of a semi-adult relationship. I have to take care to avoid this behavior. My daughter has a job and is fulfilling her obligations (even titles). She is also on a spending spree. Saving for a rainy day is not on her agenda yet. I’m trying (I really am) to respect her as a peer in the way she’s using her money. I have to bite my tongue so often that it is swollen.

There you go; the term semi-adult can now be admitted into the English lexicon. Can someone get in touch with Webster’s?

My grandmother lived through the Great Depression. We loved hearing her reminisce about her difficult times, but always reverently wrapped in the love her father gave her 5 children. My great-grandfather lost his wife (my great-grandmother) two weeks after his youngest child was born due to scarlet fever. The great-grandfather was left with 5 children to raise ranging in age from 2 weeks to 7 years. My grandmother was the second after the eldest and the only daughter. I can still hear her tell us how they were quarantined at the time of her mother’s funeral due to scarlet fever in her home and watched from her living room window as her mother’s coffin passed in procession funeral on the way to the cemetery.

My great-grandfather never remarried. My grandmother, being an only child, did much of the housework. If the children ever dared to complain about school, she would gently remind us how lucky they were to go to school. She cried when, in her sophomore year of high school, her father needed her home and she could no longer attend school.

Times were tough during the Great Depression, so skimping, saving, and reusing as much as possible was a way of life. Today, people still love to save money and reduce waste through clever DIY projects, but back in those days “do it yourself” wasn’t a trend; it was a necessity.

In those hard times, if women wanted to support their families, they had to be creative, especially when it came to clothing.

During the 1930s, sacks of flour featured colorful patterns for women to make dresses. Innovative and desperate, the women often emptied the sacks and used the cloth to make clothes. When flour makers saw women turning their sacks of flour into clothing, diapers, tea towels, and more, they began packaging their flour in pretty designs. And it wasn’t just the kids. The women also made dresses with the bags. Whether in the kitchen or helping my grandfather outdoors, my grandmother wore these dresses that she sewed from sacks of food!

When the clothes finally wore out, after being passed from older brother to younger brother, my grandmother cut up the salvageable pieces and turned them into quilts. There are stories and memories in each square. My mother can still look at some of the quilt pieces and see her mother wearing that particular dress or recognize pieces on the quilts from the clothes she wore as a child.

There are many ways to keep ancestors alive. Images speak volumes, stories, especially when recorded in the voice of an ancestor, are treasures, videos are priceless, and many other ways. However, the one that speaks to me every night is the comforter that covers my bed with warmth and memories in each lovingly sewn square. Great-grandchildren are told some amazing bedtime stories as they, too, snuggle up to their great-grandmother’s play.

My grandmother passed away in 2012, fittingly on the first day of spring. It was a beautiful bright day in Ghent, Minnesota, when we gathered around her grave. The wake at the funeral home was adorned with Grandma’s handmade jars of home-canned fruits and vegetables on a table covered with one of her prized quilts. A tribute to her life of giving and sharing.

A question many beginning marketers ask is, “Well, if I deliver all my great stuff in my email campaign, how do I teach at a high level that they’re going to get more out of it?”

Again, this goes back to being an expert. If you look at what I do, I can have 500 or 1k different topics that I could teach at a high level for 30 minutes to an hour.

We could measure maybe 500 hours of deep information. No matter how well I complete my email campaign, within the first 30 days someone is in my email campaign, they’ll probably only get 3 hours, maybe 4 hours of insight. I can give my best information in those first 30 days and give people 4 hours of information, which is 75% of everything I teach at the highest level. And I still have 99.25% more information that they can learn at a really high level.

Once again, this goes back to your experience level. If he’s only an expert on two little things, I can understand his reluctance, his hesitation, to reveal that in his email campaign. This is what I suggest instead of trying to find a way to give people as little as possible in the email campaign. Instead, spend the next 60 days trying to become the highest-level expert you can be in that time frame.

You will then be able to offer your entry level subscribers a higher level email campaign than your competition.

What do we do in our sales letters?

Well, we do exactly the same thing. Let’s scratch the pain: Let’s say “Are you frustrated with this problem you’re experiencing?” “It is a problem for you?” “Are you irritated or angry that you can’t solve this problem?”

“If so, I have the solution for you!”

“This is how the solution works.”

“This is what it will do for you.”

“This is how you will solve your problem.”

So you’re driving to a closure. People are buying your product not because of how amazing it is, but because of its ability to eliminate pain. People continue to read your emails for its ability to continue to eliminate pain. People continue to download articles from you because your articles continue to relieve pain. As long as your training can continue to ease people’s pain, people will continue to buy from you.

But as soon as your products simply start calming people down instead of solving their problems, that’s when people stop buying from you.

What I have shared with you here is emotionally and tactically how you are going to bridge the gap between the prospects pain and the solution you offer.

If we just do a quick review: The first thing you need to do is figure out what people’s deepest level pains are. You won’t find this at an entry level doing web searches or going into forums. Yes, I recommend those things for the very beginner basic level of creating your initial landing page.

But to really dig in, you’ll have to check out the people who have taken steps to become a subscriber. Find out what your deepest needs are.

Then, in your free download, in your email campaign, in any promotional material you post…

… be it an audio, a video or a print…

…you’re going to dig into that pain and show people how, by taking action with you, you can remove that pain.

When you do that consistently, throughout your materials and campaigns, then you can effectively bridge the gap between pain and solution.

Microsoft Excel is presented to most users as a business tool, not something they would use in their everyday lives, and that’s a shame, because the power of the spreadsheet program goes far beyond just manipulating numbers. Here are some smart things you can do with Excel around the house:

keep score – Whenever you have a game that lasts longer than one night (my husband and I have had some epically long Boggle competitions), Excel is exactly the right tool to keep track of the results, not just the spreadsheet format It easily keeps the numbers where they belong, but when the game is finally over, you can print out a line graph showing your progress toward victory mapped right on top of your partner’s progress toward final defeat.

Collection Tracking -I’m a huge fan of collectibles, whether it’s a geek trading card game or a more serious philatelic pursuit. Excel gives you the ability to list not only the quantities of various items, but also the qualities, and makes sorting by quality as easy as “Sort by ‘Mint/New/Used'”.

Planning – Excel spreadsheets are excellent programmers. For example: scheduling your kids’ homework, color-coding it so they don’t have excuses for not knowing what their homework is, and actually printing the sheets and posting them on the fridge with a marker nearby for easy marking. Excel makes it easy.

Organizing your spice rack – My husband and I have one of those revolving spice racks that holds 10 bottles per side on all four sides. When we realized we didn’t particularly care about “pizza seasoning” because we always mixed our own spices, we discarded half the spices on the shelf and then made an Excel spreadsheet that listed all the spices and spice mixes which we used most often. , hide the rows that contained the ones we use the least, and alphabetize the remaining 40 and alphabetize them on the shelf. We keep the spreadsheet in case there is any confusion about what is supposed to be where.

budget – Obviously, Excel is a great tool for keeping track of your household budget. Tagging of expenses with tags such as “food (home)”, “food (out)”, “entertainment”, “clothes”, etc. makes it easy to not only rank by those values, but also create charts that show you how much of your monthly money is going to places that could be cut in the blink of an eye.

School projects – Right when I graduated from college, my husband used Excel to graph various science projects. With Excel’s ability to reference other sheets in formulas, even very complex information can be neatly summarized on the first sheet of a multi-sheet data matrix.

purchase decisions – When you have choices like trying to decide where to buy vitamins (where each store sells different amounts of pills at different prices and in different strengths), you basically MUST have Excel to make the most informed purchasing decision. . There is no other way to sort so much data.

food diaries – When you’re on a diet, whether you’re tracking calories, carbs, or fat grams, being able to put the data in one consistent and organized place is key. Excel gives you that place, as well as tools to easily summarize your daily totals and chart your progress over time.

Make a channel guide – My husband and I switched to digital cable a while ago, and the number of channels we had to deal with was phenomenal. By putting them all into Excel, color-coding them based on the approximate genre each channel consisted of, and highlighting the ones we watched the most, we were able to put together our favorites list without losing track of the more obscure channels along the way.

Comparison of conditioners – I once had a favorite conditioner, and then they changed the formula and it stopped working for me. The solution? I tried a dozen different conditioners, put all the ingredients from each bottle into Excel, and then removed the ingredients from each bottle that didn’t work until I had a small list of ingredients that were shared among the few bottles that did work. Then I went and found the least expensive conditioner that shared those ingredients, and now I have a new favorite conditioner.

camping trip planning – When you have a limited number of spaces and need to make sure everything goes smoothly, Excel is a great tool. List everything you need, where you’ll be able to put it, and print two copies, one alphabetically so you can mark it and make sure you have it all before you leave the house, and one ordered by the “where is” column so you can find anything. efficiently once you’ve hit the road.

Of course, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of other uses for Excel around the house; this is just scratching the surface. If you have hobbies like playing poker, Excel’s hypergeometric distribution function can tell you the chance of getting a particular card in your next draw. If you’re into gardening, Excel can log temperature data from the past few years and give you an idea of ​​when it’s safe to plant what. The possibilities are endless.