In a move that is neatly covers those who fall, on the Venn diagram of life, at the nexus of “dewy-eyed romantic” and “socially obliviously cheap,” we present this:

IHOP

Breakfast for dinner?

IHOP is giving away free pancakes from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday, as part of a promotion to raise money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

The chain will give one complimentary short stack to each customer in the hope that customers will in turn make a donation to the nonprofit, which supports children's hospitals. IHOP typically offers free pancakes on Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday. The holiday is often known as Pancake Day in English-speaking countries, where pancakes traditionally are made to use up dairy products ahead of Lent. This year the giveaway was moved up a week to help boost fund-raising efforts.

IHOP hopes to raise $2.3 million for the network, which provides funding for children’s hospitals across the country. 

A new survey of U.S. employers finds that merit increases are expected to increase slightly this year, thanks to those incremental signs that the economy and job market are finally improving.

The Towers Watson survey of large and mid-sized U.S. employers found that companies are budgeting for merit increases of around 3 percent this year, up from 2.7 percent in 2010.

That’s still below the 3.6 percent increases that employers budgeted for in 2008, according to Towers Watson, a professional services company.   

Some of these companies also are hiring. About 40 percent of employers surveyed said they planned to hire for positions that require skills critical to make their company competitive. About the same amount said they plan to add professional and technical workers.

About one-fourth are adding sales and hourly workers, according to the Towers Watson survey.

Despite the millions of unemployed folks out there, more than half of the companies surveyed said they were having trouble finding employees with critical skills. Thirty percent said they were having trouble holding on to these critical employees.

The survey of 381 companies was completed in January and February of this year.

Eve Tahmincioglu, our resident career diva, joined us for a live Web chat Friday afternoon.

Here are two of her answers and a complete archive:

Question from Laura:
Is there a way to fill in the time gap that having children -- in my case about four years -- leaves in your resume without sounding like you were sidelined?

Answer from Eve:
When you have a long absence from the work world, it's always a good idea to play up things you did that may have not gotten you a paycheck but helped you learn.

Did you volunteer? Did you take a course, or get any certification?

And you should be blogging or developing a presence in social media about a particular industry you're looking to return to or get into. I know stay-at-home moms who used their blogs on their resumes to fill in the gaps.  
 
Question from Alex:
Can you suggest a way for recent grads to overcome the hurdle where companies require three to five years of experience for "entry level" positions? 

Answer from Eve:
Today it's hard to get over that hurdle because you have many job seekers with tons of experience looking for entry-level gigs.

That's why internships are so important for people starting out in the job market. You need to have as much on your resume that shows you have experience, even if it wasn't a full-time job. Working as a temp is also a great way to get your foot in the door. 

Complete archive:

If you have a question for our TODAY Money experts, submit it here.

To sign up for an e-mail reminder for our next chat, click here.

It’s February, so it seems natural that love – or lots of chatter about it – would be in the air.

This month, our readers were evenly divided on whether it’s OK to have a work spouse or not, but it seems that plenty of you have found an actual spouse in the cubicle farm.

We know what love and marriage leads to: Debt. This graphic on how expensive those kids can be drew plenty of attention from readers, and sparked a heated discussion over whether to have kids, how many to have and how much they have to cost.

The good news is that eventually those kids will start paying for some of their own expenses, if they can get a job. Our own John Schoen fielded reader questions on what teens can do to bring in some extra cash in this tight job market and why it pays to stay in school (lower unemployment rate, kids!).

We hope all of you who are searching for a job land a good one soon because a new report out this month found that, contrary to all those sappy sayings you always hear, money actually does make you happy. This prompted a lively discussion of whether money is the root of happiness, evil or both.

Finally, many, many of you were interested in this graphic from The Economist comparing the GDP of various states to that of other countries. Comments were about as far-ranging as this country, which we now know stretches from Italy (or California) all the way to Luxembourg (or Maine).

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Number of union members, in thousands

The effort by the Wisconsin legislature to curb union power comes at a time when overall union membership has taken a sharp hit, according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In 2010, the BLS said union membership fell by 617,000, to 14.7 million. A decade ago, 16.3 million people were in unions.

Union members now make up 11.9 percent of the workforce. A decade ago, that figure stood at 13.4 percent.

The BLS offers a couple of other interesting tidbits about union members.

• The occupations with the highest union membership rate included education, training and library jobs.
• Black workers are more likely to be in unions than white, Asian or Hispanic workers.
• New York is the state with the highest rate of union membership.

Related:

Public unions arrive at a critical moment

Unions aren’t that popular, but neither are businesses

It’s no secret the tax code can be a riddle, and that goes for people who are out of work too.

SimplyBlog, which is put together by the folks at the job search site Simply Hired, has compiled a list of tips and tricks for people who are dealing with tax time and a job search.

Among the quirks to keep in mind, according to the post:

• You can’t deduct the cost of your job interview haircut, but you can deduct the mileage for your trip to the interview.
• Your unemployment benefits are most likely taxable.
• You cannot generally deduct expenses if you are looking for a job in a new field or for the first time.

Thoroughly confused? This information straight from the IRS also may help.

Related:

There's no excuse not to file your taxes now

Uncle Sam wants some of you to repay the home tax credit

What? Cheat on taxes? Never!

The weak job market appears to have prompted more of us to get to work on time, according to a newly-released study.

But those that do come in late are as creative as ever with their reasons why they couldn’t show up on time.

The survey from job search website Careerbuilder.com, taken in late 2010, found that 15 percent of workers say they arrive late to work once a week or more. That’s down from 16 percent in 2009 and 20 percent in 2008, when the job market was much stronger and the unemployment rate was much lower.

The most common reasons workers gave for arriving to work late were pretty predictable: Bad traffic and lack of sleep topped the list, followed by inclement weather and delays in getting kids to school or child care.

The employers polled in the survey were also asked to recount some of the more creative reasons they had heard from late employees. Among them:

• Employee claimed his hair was hurting his head.
• Employee claimed they did not get any sleep because their boyfriend's wife threw them out of the house.
• Employee claimed their karma was not in sync that day.
• Employee claimed they got hurt taking a fork out of the dishwasher.
• Employee claimed they weren’t late … the company clock was wrong.

Those excuses may have left you laughing, but apparently work tardiness is no joke. About one-third of the hiring managers who responded to the survey said they had fired an employee for being late.

The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive and included 2,482 U.S. employers and 3,910 U.S. employees.

Readers, what's the strangest reason you've gotten to work late? Share your answers in the comments below.

How you feel about the economy may depend on your education. The Washington Post reports that the bleakest outlook comes from white Americans without college degrees.

Referencing a Post-Kaiser-Harvard survey, the Post reports that group is also the most likely to blame Washington for the problems, specifically the Obama administration.

The group certainly seems to believe in mixed messages, with 43 percent saying that “hard work and determination are no guarantees of success” even though half identify as Republicans, the party of bootstraps, or GOP-leaning independent voters.

Which would seem to beg the question, does higher education make you a Pollyanna to the woes of the world or does it teach you how to handle tough times better?

Carolyn Kaster / AP file

U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves leaves the home of World War II veteran and village elder Clifton Jackson, 89, in the remote Inupiat Eskimo village Noorvik, Alaska.

The nation’s high jobless rate may be terrible news for the economy, but it provided some unexpected good news for the U.S. Census Bureau.

Robert Groves, the director of the U.S. Census Bureau, said earlier this week that one reason the 2010 Census cost far less than expected was because the government was able to attract much better workers for its temporary Census jobs.

"The unemployment rate was so high that we had people working on tasks that we had prepared for folks who have very low skills," Groves told a group at Cornell University last week, according to the Cornell Chronicle online. "We had people who had very good job experiences. ... They finished up all the operations faster than we thought, and better than we thought. So all of our productivity models were wrong, I mean seriously wrong."

The comments were confirmed by a spokesman for the U.S. Census Bureau.

All told, the Census Bureau said it saved about $1.87 billion on the 2010 Census. The Census Bureau said the savings were the result of a number of factors, including the more productive workforce.

Are the trillions of dollars in national debt keeping you up at night? Don’t feel helpless -- you can do your part to pay down the country's debt.

Yes, it turns out the Bureau of the Public Debt accepts donations.

Last year, the Treasury Department said it received about $2.8 million in donations, mostly in the form of individual gifts under $100. It’s received about $400,000 so far this year.

Treasury Department spokeswoman Joyce Harris said people can make electronic donations or send checks or cash in the mail.

So, who actually does that?

Harris said people who mail checks sometimes include notes saying that they or their relatives are thankful for the opportunities they’ve had in the United States.

“Some very patriotic immigrants have told us that they’re grateful for this country and want to give back,” she said.

They also sometimes receive donations from school groups who are studying debt issues, Harris said.

Perhaps surprisingly, Harris said she hasn’t seen many letters citing the nation’s high debt levels as the reason for a contribution.

And although the donations may be tax-deductible, Harris said she’s also never seen a letter from someone admitting they are making a donation just to get a tax break.

Kavin Bauman

An image from the series of "100 Abandoned Houses" in Detroit.

The housing bust has been a boom for some photographers and other artists looking to document the rising number of abandoned homes in urban centers and elsewhere across the nation.

Photographer Kevin Bauman of Detroit has created a particularly stark and beautiful collection of images from that shattered city, collected on his website under the title "100 Abandoned Houses," although he has by now collected well over 100.

The houses are shot straight on and centered in a square frame, often set against a flat, gray sky. Bauman says he has been photographing abandoned homes in the Detroit area for over a decade when he is not busy with commercial work.  Bauman sells his photos in a limited-edition prints for $100 to $500, depending on the size and print number.

Bauman is not alone in his obsession. Another Detroit photographer, James D. Griffioen, documents urban decay including haunting "feral houses" that are overgrown with ivy and weeds.  David Schalliol makes images of abandoned homes and commercial buildings in his series on "isolated buildings," which he says is aimed at "revealing meaning through recontextualization."

Remember that for the test.

Thanks to Business Insider for pointing out Bauman's work. Know of any other art projects that make use of abandoned homes? Tell us about it the comments section.

Amy Sancetta / AP

Presidents Day was celebrated this month with a bobblehead doll giveaway in Cleveland.

Monday is Presidents Day, and if you're like most Americans you are probably ready for your first holiday since Martin Luther King, Jr. Day nearly five weeks ago.

But some of you apparently don't like spending so much time away from work and school.

A survey from Rasmussen Reports finds that 28 percent of U.S. adults say there are too many federal holidays. Only 13 percent say there aren't enough holidays, while 53 percent say the number of federal holidays is "about right."

The survey was conducted Feb. 15 and 16 as workers across the country were noticing a sudden increase in furniture ads and realizing they had a three-day weekend coming up.

While the holiday may have crept up, it should not have come as a surprise as Washington's Birthday has been a federal holiday since 1885 and has been observed on the third Monday of February since 1971. The holiday is often known as Presidents Day because it rarely falls on George Washington's actual birthday, Feb. 22.

With 10 federal holidays in most years (and sometimes 11), the U.S. is catching up to international standards, although we still lag far behind many developed countries in paid time off work. European countries typically offer a minimum of four weeks' vacation plus eight to 12 national holidays, compared with the typical one to three weeks' vacation in the U.S.

Maybe Americans just really, really like to work and hate having another day home with the family. Or maybe we feel we just can't afford the loss of productivity associated with a holiday.

Rasmussen notes that each holiday costs about $450 million in pay for federal employees and lost productivity. And the polling company says Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats -- 37 to 19 percent -- to say there are too many federal holidays.

Paul Sancya / AP

So many homes in Detroit are vacant that wrecking crews have been knocking them down.

Bringing a blighted, crime-ridden neighborhood back to life is never easy. This challenge has been tackled in Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia and elsewhere, and now Detroit is in the spotlight for its dramatic urban-resurrection efforts.

Detroit Mayor David Bing this month unveiled a program aimed at enticing police officers to relocate from the suburbs to the city they serve. Dubbed Project 14, the program allows officers to buy vacant houses -- many of which were abandoned after foreclosures -- with down payments of only $1,000.

The historic homes being made available in Detroit’s Boston-Edison and East English Village neighborhoods are appraised at $40,000 to $80,000. Monthly mortgage payments, including principal, interest, taxes and insurance, are expected to fall in the $500 to $1,000 range.

A major benefit of the program, beyond the low payments, is that officers could be eligible for up to $150,000 in federal grant money to renovate the homes. Officials hope Project 14 will provide a double-whammy of recovery by fixing up houses that sorely need help and reducing crime because more police will be present within city limits.

Another Detroit program, Live Midtown, is offering incentives to encourage college graduates to move closer to the places where they work. Those incentives include $2,500 cash toward apartment costs for new renters and up to $25,000 in forgivable loans for new home buyers.

Do you think these kinds of incentives are a good idea? More importantly, do you think they will work?

Pew Research

Americans’ view of labor unions is near the lowest level in a quarter century -- but corporations aren’t doing so hot, either.

A new survey from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press finds that 45 percent of Americans have a favorable view of unions, while 47 percent have a favorable view of corporations.

The popularity of both has slumped in recent years, amid the weak economy and high unemployment.

Unions are actually slightly more popular than a year ago, when just 41 percent of Americans viewed them favorably. But their popularity has dropped considerably from 2001, when 63 percent of Americans saw them in a favorably light.

In this year’s survey, more than half of respondents said unions have a positive effect on salaries and benefits of union workers, and working conditions for everyone. But about one-third thought unions have a negative effect on the availability of good jobs in America and the ability of American companies to compete globally.

Businesses reached a recent high in popularity in 1999, according to Pew’s data, when 73 percent viewed them favorably. But it has stayed at 47 percent since 2008, at the early part of the recession.

The data is based on a survey of 1,385 adults completed earlier this month.

Photo courtesy Wendy's

Remember Wendy’s  “Where’s The Beef?” slogan from the 1980s? Well, for the next few months burger-loving Americans will be asking “Where’s the tomato?” 

“The nasty winter in Florida and Mexico has had a severe impact on our ability to get quality tomatoes,” said Wendy’s spokeswoman Kitty Munger.  Because of the shortage, the world’s third-largest hamburger chain will add the tomatoes to chicken sandwiches or burgers “by request only,” Munger says.

And it may not be a problem only for Wendy’s. The unusually bitter winter has restaurant suppliers across the nation seeking other sources for tomatoes.

According to Munger, all 6,500 Wendy’s outlets will have signs posted alerting customers.  How long will this last? “We are hoping we can get back to normal by mid-April,” Munger said. “But it really depends on Mother Nature.”

The shortage does not include salad menu items because the chain uses smaller grape tomatoes. Oh, and don’t worry french fry fans. Ketchup supplies won’t be affected.

TODAY Money expert David Bach, author of a new book "Debt Free for Life," joined us for a live Web chat Wednesday morning after the show's Money 911 segment.

Here are two of his answers to questions from the live chat. See below for the full Q&A and video of the Money 911 segment.

Question from Becky Rogers:
My son's W-2 came in the mail yesterday, and one of the perforated sides was either torn or removed from the form. Our mail box is at a bank of boxes at the end of the street. When I peeked inside where the form was accessible, I could easily see his social security number. Not knowing if this was random or if somebody purposely opened the form to steal his ID information, is there a place to report possible identity theft, even if I can't substantiate that claim? Are there any other steps you would recommend taking to prevent any long term issues? My son will be taking out student loans for his senior year of college next year, and I don't want this possible identity theft issue to be a concern. Thank you!

Answer from David:
My suggestion is that you immediately pull your sons credit reports. You can do this for FREE at http://www.annualcreditreport.com. You also might want to consider buying an identity theft monthly membership that will notify you if you anyone is trying to use his credit. You can also lock his credit files with the credit bureaus by visiting their websites.

You can't report identity theft because you don't actually know if anything has been stolen. So checking his reports is the first step. Thank you for asking, and for being so on it for your son!

Question from Jenny:
My husband owes $50,000 in student loans. How can we find ways to reduce this debt? It is crippling. We are now 49 and only make $52,000 a year. He is Native American and has consolidated the loans, but it's still an emotional for us because it has stopped us from buying a home.

Answer from David:
Jenny, there are multiple options. First, to pay the loans off, you can simply up what you are contributing to the loans and pay the principal down fast. But my guess is you don't have that money.

Student loans don't have to stop you from buying a home. Many people save to buy a home and make minimum payments on their student loans while they build savings to buy a home. The good news is your husband consolidated his debt already and my guess is the interest rate is extremely low because its government loans not private.

I would also look at my new book "Debt Free for Life," and read the chapter on student loans. You can get more details on this book at http://www.finishrich.com.

Good luck to you both. And know that student loans are crippling a lot of Americans -- it’s the next credit crisis facing American's. It's a real problem -- you are not alone!

Complete archive:

If you have a question for our TODAY Money experts, submit it here.

To sign up for an e-mail reminder for our next chat, click here.

Watch this week's Money 911 segment:

Photo courtesy Clorox

Have you ever wondered what was in Pine-Sol? Did you think Formula 409 got its name from the number of its ingredients? And what in the heck is in S.O.S pads that get my barbecue grill so clean? (Answers below)

Clorox, the maker of these and other cleaning products, is finally coming clean. The company announced Tuesday that it will disclose the active ingredients of merchandise.

According to a Los Angeles Times report, the new disclosures mark the first time a mainstream cleaning product manufacturer has disclosed all the ingredients used in all of its products  –  about 200 items.

“This additional information about our products is a natural next step to take ... as we continue to drive transparency and industry leadership in the area of product ingredient communication," Clorox CEO Don Knauss said in a statement.

Clorox has created a new web site that invites consumers to take a closer look at the fine print on the Clorox family of products

And, yes, there is pine essential oil in Pine-Sol. Formula 409 lists only 10 ingredients, not 409. And it must be the sodium tallowate or the titanium dioxide that make the grill so clean. Or, as my dad taught me, elbow grease.

Procrastinators, you now have one less reason to put off filing your taxes.

The Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday it can now accept tax returns for people who itemize their tax deductions.

The IRS had said in late December that people who itemize their returns would have to hold off on filing until the government could update its systems to reflect last-minute tax law changes Congress passed in mid-December. The change was expected to be completed by mid-February.

The delay potentially affected tens of millions of taxpayers. That’s because it included anyone who uses a Schedule A to claim itemized deductions for things like mortgage interest, charitable donations and medical expenses.

People who claim certain education deductions or deduct state and local sales taxes also couldn’t file their taxes while the IRS updated its systems.

Still, those who are prone to waiting to the last minute can hold off a bit longer. The IRS also said that it would extend its tax filing deadline to April 18 this year, because of holiday observed in Washington, D.C.

Related:

Uncle Sam wants you ... to repay the home tax credit

Breastfeeding pumps now deductible, IRS rules

What? Cheat on taxes? Never 

Stan Honda / AFP - Getty Images file

You don’t need to have a special someone to get a Valentine’s Day gift today – a number of companies are also showing their love with promotions and free gifts.

Here’s a sampling.

• Sandwich chain Subway is giving away a free cookie with any purchase.
• Doughnut maker Krispy Kreme is offering 12 Valentine’s Day cards – each with a coupon for one free doughnut – with each purchase of a dozen tasty treats.
• Mobile phone provider T Mobile is offering certain smart phones for free through Valentine’s Day.
• Movie rental company Redbox will send a promo coupon for a free DVD rental with every Valentine you create through its Facebook page.
• And for those who aren’t planning on spending Valentine’s Day alone, the New York Daily News reports that the city of New York’s health department on Monday unveiled a free iPhone app that helps people find the nearest location for free condoms.

Pssst ... are you reading this at work right now? (BUSTED!)

msnbc.com

OK, next question: What other non-work-related thoughts might be racing through the minds of you and your professional colleagues? Well, if a new survey is any indication, plenty of employees are flirting, dating and falling in love -- at work.

According to CareerBuilder’s annual Valentine’s Day survey of nearly 4,000 workers, about 40 percent say they’ve dated a co-worker at some point in their careers. Despite the obvious perils of starting a romance with someone you have to see day after day after day, get this: 30 percent say they went on to marry a person they dated in the workplace.

I personally know this kind of thing can happen, even in the most unlikely scenarios. My husband and I met while packing salmon eggs in a fish-processing plant in Alaska. I can still remember that job so well -- the din of the factory, the overwhelming fish-market smell, my yellow raingear that made me look like an Oompa-Loompa, my complete lack of makeup, my hairnet. The stage was obviously set for roe-mance. (Get it?!)

Granted, back in the dark ages when my husband and I met at work, e-mail didn’t even exist yet -- let alone Facebook. Romantically involved co-workers would do well to heed this advice from Rosemary Haefner, CareerBuilder’s vice president of human resources: Before you begin posting photos and status updates about your “newfound coupledom,” consider telling your co-workers and your boss about it in person to keep gossip and intrigue to a minimum.

“Workplace relationships no longer carry the stigma they once did, as 65 percent of workers said they aren’t keeping their romance a secret,” Haefner said. “However, it is the responsibility of the individuals to understand company policy and make sure they adhere to it.”

Indeed! And for goodness’ sake, don’t let your office romance affect your job performance. As scores of families in Japan could have attested way back when, my future husband and I packed, salted and stacked countless boxes of salmon roe just beautifully.

The Fiscal Times

The kids may be all right, but they’re also expensive.

The food, the child care, the medical expenses – they all add up to about $286,050, and that’s before you even send the little one off to college, according to the Department of Agriculture.

The Fiscal Times, which cited that figure in a recent report on a potential baby dearth in America, also put together this handy pie chart showing how all those kid costs break down.

Both the chart and the dollar figure are based on U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2009 data for a middle-income husband-and-wife family with two children.

Has the cost of raising children put the brakes on your plans to have (more) children?

Here’s another sign Americans are feeling a bit better about the economy: We’re willing to spend a bit more on Valentine’s Day flowers, cards and trinkets.

American adults are expected to spend an average of $116.21 for Valentine’s Day gifts this year, according to a poll conducted by BIGresearch for the National Retail Federation.

That’s a nearly 13 percent increase over the $103 Americans said they were spending last year, on average, for loved ones, friends, co-workers and classmates, according to the retail trade group.

The financial crisis put a serious damper on American’s willingness to splurge on flowers, jewelry and candy hearts. Valentine’s Day spending fell from an average of $122.98 in February 2008 to $102.50 in 2009.

This year, BIGresearch said it expects total spending to hit $15.7 billion. The results were based on a survey of about 9,000 people conducted in early January.

About $3.5 billion of that will be spent on jewelry, according to the survey.

Other popular items include dining out ($3.4 billion), flowers ($1.7 billion), candy ($1.5 billion) and greeting cards ($1.1 billion).

Even though spending is up, we all know money can’t buy love, right?

It can only buy happiness.