Guided project · 5 steps Cellwise Plus
Fair carpool schedule in Excel
Settle who drives when, count each family's turns and miles, and spot who owes a drive.
You will use: TEXT, COUNTIF, SUMIF, AVERAGE, ROUND, MIN, MATCH, INDEX
Starting data
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Date | Day | Activity | Driver | Miles | Driver | Drives | Miles | Miles vs average | |
| 2 | Nov 2, 2026 | Soccer practice | Sam | 7.5 | Sam | |||||
| 3 | Nov 4, 2026 | Swim lessons | Priya | 12 | Priya | |||||
| 4 | Nov 5, 2026 | Soccer practice | Dana | 7.5 | Dana | |||||
| 5 | Nov 7, 2026 | Soccer game | Sam | 18 | ||||||
| 6 | Nov 9, 2026 | Soccer practice | Priya | 7.5 | Next long drive goes to | |||||
| 7 | Nov 11, 2026 | Swim lessons | Sam | 12 | ||||||
| 8 | Nov 12, 2026 | Soccer practice | Dana | 7.5 | ||||||
| 9 | Nov 14, 2026 | Soccer game | Priya | 22 |
Build it step by step
Step 1
Show the day of the week for each date in B2 (Mon, Tue...). Fill to B9.
Step 2
How many drives has each parent done? Count them in H2 and fill to H4.
Step 3
Turns are not the whole story: a game across town is longer than practice. Total each parent's miles in I2, fill to I4.
Step 4
Compare each parent with a fair share. In J2 show their miles minus the average miles of the three parents, rounded to 1 decimal. Fill to J4.
Step 5
Who should take the next long drive? Return the name of the parent with the fewest miles in H6.