Microsoft Office *Giveaway* plus 10 Tips and Tricks to a More Organized Holiday

No matter how well I try to plan ahead, the holidays always seem to throw me for a loop.  I think I'm right on track, then suddenly there are only days left until Christmas and my to do list is still long and daunting.  I'm always on the lookout for tools and tips to help me be more organized and efficient, so when the folks at Microsoft offered to send over a copy of Office complete with suggestions on how to use it to make my life easier, I said YES!!

Straight from the Microsoft Office blog, here are their ten tips and tricks to a more organized holiday season (I've been doing #7 for years and it saves me SO MUCH time!!):

Top 10 Holiday Tips & Tricks

1. Save kitchen counter space. Download this free OneNote 2010 recipe notebook and digitally catalog all your favorite recipes in one place.
2. Never lose another family recipe. Share your OneNote 2010 recipe notebook with family and friends, and collect other favorites using the Office Web Apps on SkyDrive.
3. Keep track and stay in the black. Download this free Excel 2010 spreadsheet and see wish lists alongside your gift spending budget.
4. Avoid impulse purchases. Stay focused by accessing your budget spreadsheet on the go with Excel Mobile on your Windows Phone.
5. Dress up dinner. Download and customize this free Word 2010 menu . This simple, yet classy detail will add personal touch to any holiday meal with family and friends.
6. Image is everything. Use photo editing tools in Word 2010 to customize your own holiday newsletters, greeting cards or party invites using templates from Office.com.
7. Don't sweat your penmanship. Use Office 2010 to convert addresses into unique holiday mailing labels and mail newsletters, greeting cards or party invites in a snap. 
8. Show off the holidays. Put all your holiday photos in PowerPoint 2010 to create a collage of memories, and share with loved ones via the Broadcast Slide Show feature.
9. Don't let your gift get lost in the shuffle. Download and customize your very own gift tags from Office.com.
10. Blog a gift guide. Create and embed your very own PowerPoint 2010 gift guide slide show into a blog to give your readers a taste of what's hot this season.

And to help you have a stress-free, organized holiday season too, Microsoft has two copies of Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student that they are providing to two Wisconsin Mommy readers.  One version is for PC, the other for Mac so there is something for everyone!

Here's how to enter:

1) (Mandatory) Leave a comment on this post telling me what your least favorite holiday "chore" is.  Hate the cooking, cleaning  shopping? Fess up!  Please also let me know if you would be wanting the PC or Mac version of Office.

Additional optional entries.  Leave a separate comment for each as each comment will count as an entry.

2) Like Wisconsin Mommy on Facebook.

3) Follow Wisconsin Mommy on Twitter.

4) Tweet about the giveaway by clicking here.

5) Like Microsoft Office on Facebook.

6) Share this post by clicking the +1 button at the bottom.

The details and legal stuff:

This giveaway will end at 11:59 pm CST on December 28th.  At that time, two winners will be chosen using random.org.  One winner will receive the PC copy and one the Mac - preferences will be taken into account when determining the winners.  The winners will be notified by email and will have 72 hours to respond or another winner will be notified.  The prizes were supplied by Microsoft as well as a digital review copy for me to review. (Thanks Microsoft!!)  You must be 18 years old to enter - contest is void where prohibited by law.  No purchase is necessary and the odds of winning depend on the number of entries.