Total all instances of an entry for analysis

[Guest]

I'm trying to compile an analysis of my accounts. I keep entries for
purchases on a worksheet for each month. I have various columns for credit
cards, cash, switch etc. I enter a brief description of the purchase then
enter the amount in the relevant column next to it. I have included a
further category column next to the description and have included a drop down
box to choose the category e.g. food, entertainment etc. I now have another
worksheet in which I want to analyse the purchases under each category for
each month. The problem is I don't know how to do it. I want to total all
purchases under each category heading, of which there may be multiple entries
each month. The values may be under different columns as well depending on
how the item was purchased.

Is there a way to do this easily?

 

[Guest]

First, spend some time thinking about how you can standardize your data.
Then you'll be able to use the SumIf function.
HTH,

 

[Guest]

You need to play with pivot tables.

Set up your file so it has one row of headers, then everything below that is
data.

Read this. http://peltiertech.com/Excel/Pivots/pivottables.htm

Then jump in and PLAY WITH IT. Drag things around. Ask questions. Right
click a lot.

This is the easy way to do it.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the advice. I will play around with the Pivot Table idea and see
how I go!