In Word it is easier than in execl.  With Word, you can create a style
with the text set to red.  You can then assign a shortcut key to your
style and whenever you need to type text, press the shortcut key and
the style will be applied and you can merrily type in Red.

In Excel, type the text first, then multi select the cells by clicking
first cell, then as you click the next cell hold down the control key.
Continue selecting all cells where you have typed the text and once you
have all the cells selected, click on the font colour button on the
toolbar.
Hope this helps
Lynn