Gift Guide for Excel Users 2020

The 2020 holiday season is officially upon us here in the United States which means it’s time for my annual gift giving guide. I used to panic every year whenever my spouse, parents, and siblings asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I needed to give them an idea otherwise I’d end up with an ugly sweater or some random gadget I would never use.

So to help alleviate some of my stress I started compiling my own holiday gift guide. It’s kind of like the big toy catalog you used to get as a kid, only this is for adults. I’ve made a list of items I think would be very useful or exciting for your fellow Excel users, sorted by different categories. Some of these items I already use on a daily basis and others are things that are on my own personal wish list. It's my biggest and best gift guide yet! Enjoy!

Microsoft Excel Books

Excel 2019 Bible by Michael Alexander - Whether you are just starting out or an Excel novice, the Excel 2019 Bible is your comprehensive, go-to guide for all your Excel 2019 needs. Whether you use Excel at work or at home, you will be guided through the powerful new features and capabilities to take full advantage of what the updated version offers. Learn to incorporate templates, implement formulas, create pivot tables, analyze data, and much more.

Excel 2016 Power Programming with VBA is fully updated to cover all the latest tools and tricks of Excel 2016. Encompassing an analysis of Excel application development and a complete introduction to Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), this comprehensive book presents all of the techniques you need to develop both large and small Excel applications. Over 800 pages of tips, tricks, and best practices shed light on key topics, such as the Excel interface, file formats, enhanced interactivity with other Office applications, and improved collaboration features.

If you’ve ever thought to yourself “there has to be a better way to do this,” while using Microsoft Excel, then know you're probably right. There probably is a better way to complete your tasks you just don't know what it is and you don't have time to read a boring, expensive, thousand page manual on how to use Excel. 76 Excel Tips to Increase Your Productivity and Efficiency is for you. No fluff, just Excel tips and tricks you can put to use right away.

See more Excel books here.

OTHER BOOKS WORTH READING

Will It Fly? How to Test Your Next Business Idea So You Don’t Waste Your Time and Money by Pat Flynn. I’ve been following Pat’s blog and podcast for a number of years, and you might have seen some of his tips at work on my site. If you’re new to the online business world, this book is fantastic. Lots of practical steps to take to prove whether your idea has validity or not. Over 700 reviews and a five star rating, that's impressive!

The Martian by Andy Weir. If you only read one (fiction) book this year, The Martian has to be the one. I absolutely love this book (and it’s even better than the movie). As soon as I finished it the first time, I immediately re-read it – something I’ve never done before. It’s about an astronaut (with a great sense of humor) who gets left behind on a mission to Mars and has to figure out how to survive. If you’re interested in space exploration, problem solving, engineering, chemistry, botany, or disco + 70s TV shows, I highly recommend you read The Martian. Maybe the best book I’ve read in the past five years.

Another quick, shameless self-plug. Where are the most terrifying roller coasters found? Who designs them? Which park builds the craziest rides? Find out by reading my book 50 Groundbreaking Roller Coasters. Another reason for including this book on this list is to show you a real life usage of Excel. How's that? Because this is one of the books I wrote using an Excel spreadsheet!

My uncle wrote this picture book, Lily the Snail Who Wanted to Go Fast. It's full of funny and educational life lessons for kids and adults alike.

Tools for the Job

Excel 2019 Cheat Sheet - Laminated quick reference showing step-by-step instructions and shortcuts for how to use Microsoft Office Excel 2019 (Windows Version). Written with trademark focus on clarity, accuracy, and the user's perspective, this guide will be a valuable resource to improve your proficiency in using Microsoft Excel 2019. This guide is suitable as a training handout, or simply an easy to use reference guide, for any type of user.

TechSmith Snagit takes the hassle out of creating images and videos. Capture your screen, edit images, and deliver results. Snagit is also the only screen capture tool with built-in advanced image editing and screen recording. So you can easily create high-quality images and videos all in one program. Quickly explain a process, build visual-based documentation and be more engaging by adding images and videos to your communications. It's the tool I use to create all the images for Excel Spreadsheets Help and well worth the price.

I do not always Excel but when I do it's at spreadsheets shirt.

Contextures has some other great Excel shirts.

Toys, Tech, Gadgets, and More

The Etsy store has a whole selection of Excel related items, from coffee mugs to T-shirts. Some of them are pretty funny and clever.

Ethernet Splitter - Now that we've been working from home and home schooling a lot more often in 2020 we've upgraded our home office, but we needed more ways to plug into the internet. This splitter is cheap and works perfectly.

Anker PowerCore Fusion - This is a portable power charger that plugs directly into the wall so it works as your regular charger, but is also a battery so you always have power on the go.

LEGO Star Wars Boost Droid Commander - This toy is right up my alley combining multiple things I love: Star Wars, LEGO, and programming. Kids can learn to code and develop creative problem-solving skill (fun for adults too)!

Need room for more toys? Consider selling your old stuff on Facebook Marketplace while making a little extra money. Use my spreadsheet to track your sales on FB Martketplace.

Your Suggestions?

Are you putting any of these items on your holiday wish list? If so, let me know which ones in the comments below. Do have anything you’d like to recommend to me?