Would your life story make millions of viewers cry?

Have you lead a life of extraordinary service? Is your house falling down around you? Do you know someone who deserves a major home makeover?

Nominate them for the ABC show, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Producers are currently searching for deserving military families.

A press release from the team said producers are looking for people with "amazing strength of character and who put their own needs aside to help others." Eligible families must own their own single family home and be able to show how the makeover would change their lives.

Interested military families or people who wish to nominate a military family should e-mail a short description of the family's story to emheusa@emhe.tv. The e-mail should include the names and ages of household members, a description of the family's challenges, an explanation of why the family is deserving of a makeover or is a positive role model in the community, photos of the family and their home, and contact numbers.

The deadline for nominations is May 30, but people should send submissions early, the release said. Only up to 25 families are selected each season.

For more information on the application process, visit http://abc.go.com/primetime/xtremehome/index?pn=apply.

When it comes to scholarships, military families have a few more benefits than civilians. Several veterans’ organizations offer funding specifically to the children and spouses of military members.

Check out the following scholarships and apply before the deadline.

Marine Corps League:

Applicants must be enrolled as a full-time student at either a four-year school or technical program. Spouses and children, including those of Marines killed in action are eligible. As an added bonus, recipients can renew their scholarships for subsequent years. Applications due July 1. http://www.mcleague.com

American Legion:

The American Legion is the nation’s largest veterans’ service organization. As such, the group offers a large amount of financial aid to veterans and their families. While many of the awards focus on military children, such as the National High School Oratorical Contest and the Eagle Scout of the Year scholarship, spouses can apply for the Eight and Forty Lung and Respiratory Disease Nursing Scholarship. The program is intended to help registered nurses further their education to take on positions as supervisors, administrators and teachers. Scholarships are $3,000 each. Applications are due May 15, 2011. http://www.legion.org/scholarships

Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation:

Spouses and children of Marines are awarded money from this foundation every year. Applicants must have a GPA of 2.0 or higher and meet income requirements. Money is also available to families of Marines who have died in combat since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. http://www.mcsf.org

Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society:

The society offers both scholarships and no-interest loans for full-time undergraduate students, including family members. http://www.nmcrs.org/education.html

Military spouses may also find money for school closer to home. Many local, on-post spouse clubs offer their own scholarship programs. As spring marches to a close, so do the application deadlines for most annual scholarship drives. Get your application in now. When it comes to paying for college, every dollar helps!

Is your military spouse preparing to leave the rank behind and join the civilian job force? My husband only has a handful of years left until that transition to retirement and I am dreading it. I’m unsure of how our benefits might change, namely medical coverage. I fear losing that steady paycheck. And let’s be honest, tax free combat pay covered a lot of bills.

If your husband is anything like mine, he probably hasn’t brought much information home from his pre-retirement briefings, or even began looking seriously at some of the issues. I, on the other hand, need info!  

The Department of Defense launched a web site specifically to help your family make the transition: www.turbotap.org. The website is billed as a resource for military members entering the civilian job force. However, as a spouse without a military record of my own, I found the site just as helpful.

Sure there’s military-geared career advice but there’s also a treasure trove of information regarding benefits, disability compensation, insurance and VA home loans. There are checklists of items that need done before retirement day and after.

And just as my husband’s last day in uniform is approaching, I’m certain I will probably be bringing most of these important items to his attention, rather than the opposite. This is going to be a good site to keep handy.

I’m about to give you a piece of tantalizing information. You may qualify to pay a lower monthly amount for your student loan, based on your income.

The Income Based Repayment is one of several repayment plan options for student loan borrowers under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program and the Federal Family Education Loan Program.

Eligibility is based on income and family size. If you qualify, your required monthly payment is capped and is less than you would pay monthly on a regular payment plan.

It’s exciting information, I know. I about jumped out of my seat at the idea of ditching my $320 monthly payment for a smaller, sleeker model. However, don’t make plans for that extra money just yet. There is a lot of fine print with this program.

For instance, eligible federal student loans that have already been consolidated with a private lender cannot be repaid under this program. That busted my entire eligibility bubble.

For complete details, visit www.studentaid.ed.govor www.ibrinfo.org.

To determine whether you are likely to qualify for the plan, and estimate your monthly payment, visit http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/IBRCalc.jsp.

To officially determine whether you qualify, contact your loan servicer directly. Don’t know who your loan servicer is? Visit the Department of Education’s National Student Loan Data System at www.nslds.ed.gov .

It’s tax time and for many military spouses that means not paying state tax! Too bad it’s not that simple. The Military Spouse Residency Relief Act of 2009 allowed military spouses to file taxes in their state of residency, rather than the state they live in due to military orders. Military members have had this benefit for decades. Before you re-configure your tax documents, check the requirements. Military spouses must meet these three qualifications to be exempt from state taxation:

1. Currently lives in a different state than their place of residency.
2. Lives in their current state in order to live with service member spouse.
3. Service member must live in state due to military orders

Those are the first set of requirements. Depending on what state you consider your state of residency, there may be another set of requirements to determine whether you are in fact eligible to be a resident of that state. Often these laws deal with home/land ownership. Check your state’s rules at http://turbotax.intuit.com/support/iq/Where-do-I-/State-Tax-Web-Sites/GE... site lists all 50 states and links to each state’s department of revenue website.