subtracting weekending dates

I have a weekending date. I would like to subtract X amount of weeks from this date and end up with the weekending date less the weeks I subtracted.

I'm not sure were to begin.

This answer would probably help me if I knew enough about Excel! My need is to have 2 columns with different start dates and end dates and then a third column with a date 6 weeks before each start date, a due date for a deposit to be paid.

If you would be good enough to assume nothing and give me the complete formula I would be so grateful. I have spent nearly 1.5 days trying to figure it out and got nowhere!

So if you have a start date in A2 and an end date in B2 and you want C2 to give a date 6 weeks before the start date just use this formula in C2

=A2-42

daddylonglegs

Thank you very much for the reply. I have got it working – sort of. The 3rd column (because I will be entering several dates) with the calculated date fills with ######, indicating I guess that it's too narrow. When I widen it I see -12-Feb-04, ie it's worked back from the system base date. If I delete this date it deletes the formula. Is there a way of having a clear column but still with the formula?

This is what I am using: D2:D49-42 with the answer going to L2:L49.

Similarly I have a column for a deposit which is calculated from the total cost and this is filled with £0 on every row

Different question: I have a massive number of useless rows (some 65,000!) – is there a way of deleting them rather than just hiding them?

In L2 you should use just

=D2-42

...and then copy this formula down the column (you can just drag it down the required number of rows). The formula will adjust automatically, e.g. in L3 it will become =D3-42 etc.