I’m about to add another tax credit to my family. That’s right, baby #3 was due yesterday. I never miss a deadline when it comes to stories, tax day, or bill payments (OK, every once in a while I’ve goofed up this last one). But with babies, no such luck.

While I’m on maternity leave, Ka-Blog! won’t be updated. However, there’s no way I’ll be able to turn off my deal-watching, penny-pinching, money-musing nature. So keep in touch with me via Twitter, where I’ve been tracking every penny I spend and making money observations since Jan. 1.

Why Twitter? I figure 140 characters is about all a mom with a newborn can handle!

If you’re new to Twitter, head to www.twitter.com to sign up. You can find me at www.twitter.com/kablog. Hit “follow” to receive my tweets. Then read and reply often.

Say you’re shorter on cash than you think and are paying for a latte and a donut with your debit card. Would you prefer the transaction to go through even if you don’t have enough cash in your account, digesting a hefty overdraft fee along with your breakfast? Or would you rather the transaction be declined?

I definitely fall into the latter category. I will skip a donut to save $35.

But currently, consumers aren’t given that choice. Banks just let the transaction go through and laugh all the way to the, er, bank.

The Federal Reserve is currently looking at whether this should change. Should banks give consumers the chance to opt-in to pricey overdraft programs. Or should they have the right to opt-out?

Opting-in is preferable to opting-out because inertia will have more people sticking with the protection by default, even if they can’t afford to.

Have an opinion? You have until March 30th to share it with regulators.

Shoot an email with the subject R-1343 to: comments@federalreserve.gov. Or use this form created by Consumers Union.

I chuckled when I saw the following list of off-the-wall tax deduction attempts, courtesy of bankrate.com. Love #8! #3? Really?!

And I thought I was bad for even pondering the deduction of makeup and Kara playing TV personality outfits for the Dollar Duo! I didn’t take the leap, which you might be able to tell based on my outfits and non-TV hair.

Add your own stretching the tax law deductions below (don’t worry, you can do it anonymously).

1) Arizona small business owner seeks deduction for toilet paper bought from his home
2) Wife donates cheating husband’s belongings to Goodwill, seeks $51,000 charitable deduction
3) Oklahoma business owner files a $2,000 check to a gynecologist as “repairs and maintenance”
4) Cleveland woman attempts to not only deduct Jacuzzi for medical reasons, but also attempts to deduct mood lighting, underwater speakers and a in-tub stereo system
5) Texas woman digs up the older trees in her backyard and donates them to charity. The IRS allowed this deduction
6) A Texas couple who’s unmarried but living together decides to file as a married couple, resulting in a messy situation
7) 85 year-old woman gets a deduction for ballroom dance lessons one year, only to attempt to deduct more dance lessons, a ball gown, and cruises with her 20 year-old dancing instructor the next year
Pet lover attempts to write off dog food as an expense for his “home security system”
9) Woman claims subletter renting a room in her house as a new “nephew” despite him being over 20 and not related to her

I’m definitely an ant with a newly diagnosed affliction: hyperopia. I’m an oversaver “so obsessed with preparing for the future that they can’t enjoy the present, and they end up looking back sadly on all their lost opportunities for fun.” 

Read the rest of this  NYT story here.

Perhaps this is why my gut reaction when invited to two out of town weddings in the next year was “no way we can afford to go” instead of “these will be two meaningful events and we can’t miss ‘em.”

I love when readers shoot me emails with great tips. Some even write articles on topics that they’re passionate about. Like Henry, who lives in Woodbury and works for Northwest Airlines. “I enjoy cooking and finding creative and inexpensive ways to spice up everyday dishes.  And when that fails, I open a bottle of wine and it makes it all good.”
Here is his tip for saving money on preparing meals. I hope you’ll share your own tricks too.

Every day it seems like the stock market is heading in the wrong direction. I even stopped looking at my 401K because it only mockingly informs me that retirement is getting further and further away. And like most families, I too am cutting back on as many expenses as I can, and one way I found is to look within my kitchen cupboard to lower my food bill. 

The previous night I had made an entire ham. Although it was a great meal as well as an economical lunch the next day, I was not sure that I could take having ham one more time without repackaging it into something a little different. But what could I possibly do with it?

I decided to see what the Internet had to offer, so I Googled “leftover ham” and in .24 seconds I had 283,000 results at my finger tips. I scanned through the results taking into consideration what ingredients I had in my kitchen as well as what would be simple to make.

Since then I have used Google several times to piece together a meal with ingredients that I already had in my kitchen. Sometimes I have to venture to the store to pick up a few things. Sometimes the meals are good and sometimes they are not so good, but in either case it saves a little money and gets my culinary juices flowing. By simply searching for ingredients that I had in my cupboard, I have been able to prepare inexpensive dinner alternatives.

No more do I open the cupboard and stare into the abyss of cans, boxes, and jars wondering what I can make for a meal. Now I let Google help me plan mealtime.