If you have just purchased some new

real estate or are in the market, there’s a real reason to consider your yard. With the current economy, there are all kinds of ways to get more from what you have already. Your yard is no exception! By growing some of your own produce, you will be amazed how much you will save on groceries and enjoy your new home more. Teri Cettina explains more about how to make the yard of your new home a great

investment on the Equifax Finance Blog article, ”

Start Your Own Veggie and Herb Garden.”

Cettina goes into a number of ideas, but two that stand out are:

• Start Small – While you can save a lot of money with home grown veggies, they often have a bigger time requirement and can be hard work to begin with planting, weeding and watering carefully to ensure you have a good harvest. Unlike FarmVille, it takes effort to make sure your garden succeeds. Unlike most other ventures, you can actually taste your success. If you find it easier than expected, you can always expand with seasonal plants.
• Track your return on investment – This is a key one for the idea of planting to save money and also requires a little extra work. By tracking your costs for seed, plant and materials and comparing it to your local grocer’s total price per pound, the amount will show you how much you are really saving. This can make your home grown veggies taste even better!

For more great personal finance advice and

money management tips, be sure to see the full article on the Equifax Finance Blog. Also be sure to check the blog out for everything related to taxes, credit, real estate, retirement and more.