Wellness expert and author Asha Praver explains “Take a holiday at home — nothing special there. But make this also a vacation from both speed and noise.”

During this vacation, Praver advises to spend all your time — physically, psychically, and telecommunication-wise — right where you are. Talk only to those people who are physically with you. Pay attention only to events that happen right where you are.

Living in a vacation spot, I am victim to often not taking advantage of taking time to rejuvenate at home. Not to mention the pile of “snowy” day projects (I don’t think I’ll have a snow day in southern Florida). In this economy, it is not a bad idea to make your home your tropical escape. How often when we go on vacation do we look forward to coming home? There is something in the saying, “home is where the heart is.”

Following are eight of Praver’s top tips to taking a Naycation this year. 

1. Operate at the speed of foot-power. Don’t move faster than your body can propel itself. In addition to the obvious walking or running, this includes foot-powered devices like skates, bikes, or scooters.
2. Get in synch with your children and your pets. Set no appointments, schedule, or deadlines. Give your children and animals as much of your complete attention as they will accept from you. This will naturally slow you down and bring you to a focus right where you are.
3. Play games. Not electronic games or anything that makes noise on its own. Play board games, conversation games, Pictionary, Charades, things that people of all ages can enjoy together.
4. Read. Not just thrillers or popular romances, but great, interesting, classic literature, for children or adults. Read out loud to each other. Try Shakespeare. Or, if your vacation is long enough, start, and finish something really ambitious like Lord of the Rings, or a popular version of The Mahabharata.
5. Cook your own food. Don’t go out, or order in. Food prepared by others brings with it their vibrations, which you ingest. This is a time to get in tune with yourself and with those you love. Involve friends and family, including children, in food preparation. Then sit down together and enjoy what you’ve created. Cook from scratch as much as possible.
6. Sleep outside.  If your neighborhood is safe, quiet, free from biting insects and inclement weather, move your bed outside, or set up the equivalent with a comfortable mattress, sheets, pillows, and blankets. Don’t try to sleep on the hard ground or use a tent. Fall asleep looking at the moon and stars, wake up in the early light in the fresh dawn air. It will do amazing things for your health and your perspective.
7. Talk to the people around you. Invite friends over to spend time in conversation, or in doing together all those things listed above. Be with one another without having your attention drawn off to times, places, and events brought in via electronic media.
8. Be creative. Knit, sew, paint, garden, carve, write poetry, anything that engages your creative artistic self.

Praver advises if you stick with these tips, you’ll find yourself resting and renewing on a level you didn’t know was possible. “It could turn out to be the cheapest, and the best vacation you’ve ever had,” she says.

Use this recession to reconnect with your family, tackle your “someday” list, and explore passions. Which of these tips are most appealing to creating a rejuvenating naycation?

Time for a Naycation: 8 Tips to Rejuvenate at Home was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Here are 5 even better ideas for saving your hard-earned cash and still eat like a king.

Reconsider Processed Foods

Premade, processed foods sure may be convenient but they are also a huge drain on your wallet. In an effort to get healthier and wealthy, cut out as many processed foods from your weekly shopping list as you can stand. For those foods which are necessary in your home, switch to the store brand instead of only buying name-brand items. If you find that the value brand doesn’t taste very good or simply can not replace the brand-named brand, talk to the customer service people and see if you can return the products which left you far from satisfied. Many of the store-brand products can be returned for just that reason. Keep your receipts handy.

Find Meat Alternatives

You don’t necessarily have to switch to tofu, but there are ways to “go meatless” a couple times a week and still have a nutritional, well-balanced meal. Many recipes can be found that incorporate meat substitutes, such as beans, pastas, and pastas. Not having to buy seven days worth of meat can really save on your grocery bill. When you do buy dinner meats, check with your deli manager for the specials or save a little extra money to buy family packs which you can freeze in single servings. If your family uses a lot of meat products throughout the year, you may want to check with a local farmer or butcher shop, that can process a whole cow or pig that will stock your freezer for a year. The upfront costs are substantially higher than just going to the grocery store but the amount you save over time and the higher quality of meat will be well worth it. You can also split the costs with a relative or friend and split the enormous amount of meat you get.

Shop Alone

If you tend to take many people with you to the grocery store, you are more likely to overspend. Having your spouse or your kids loading up the shopping cart without your knowledge can quickly blow your budget; not to mention the distractions that come with the constant “can I have this?” questions bombarding you down each aisle. Make sure you have a list and the time to go to the store without being rushed. Eat a satisfying meal before you leave so you are not buying food out of your hunger.

Buy for Bulk Cooking

Many families will prepare more than one meal over the weekend. If you can construct your grocery list to include enough ingredients to make double or triple batches of your favorite recipes, you will not only be saving yourself money, you will be saving the amount of time you spend cooking each week. Set aside one afternoon and prepare several dishes which you can freeze for a quick fix later. Instead of making enough chili for one sitting, make enough for three meals. You will save on supplies and always have enough convenient, ready-to-eat foods for each day of the week.

Learn to Can Foods

Canning food is thought to be an old-fashioned process but the reality is it can save you a ton of money and give you the satisfaction of enjoying your favorite homegrown fruits and vegetables year-round. Whatever food you can not grow in your own garden, buying in bulk when in season and learn how to can and preserve them for a long-shelf life. Many people will have an older relative who can show them the ropes. If not, contact a local cooking instructor or purchase a step-by-step book to guide you through the canning process.

5 Ways to Keep Even More of Your Cash and Get More Food was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Why not try a potluck lunch celebration? Potlucks involve each willing participant bringing a different dish with them for a lunch period on a designated day. While the whole office may not be interested in participating, those of your co-workers who are also trying to watch their cash spending may be open to such a plan. Set a date to hold the potluck during a regular office lunch hour on a day everyone participating will be in the office. Have some co-workers bring a dessert item, others can supply drinks, and the rest can bring an entrée.

It may still cost you a little bit of money to provide a contribution but there is no reason you can get creative with what is already in your pantry. Look up recipes on the internet for some of the items you have available. Otherwise, if you must shop, stick to a basic dish. There is no need to bring a knockout dish that costs a fortune but you must make sure there is enough for everyone. Plus, when you consider what you would spend on a lunch out at a restaurant, you will most likely be saving yourself some cash.

Remember to keep it simple. If you are really feeling the pinch in your wallet, bring a head of lettuce and a bottle of salad dressing or a batch of instant pudding. Deviled eggs are cheap and easy to make. Fresh fruit is also a good idea. If you take a little time and think of the simple things most everyone enjoys but rarely would make for themselves, you’re sure to pick a winning idea.

If the potluck idea catches on in the office, make a habit of planning a regular event, perhaps once a month. It is a great way to break up the monotony of boring sandwiches and leftovers and makes saving money fun. You can also carry over the potluck idea amongst your friends and family. Busy moms and dads may welcome the break from cooking each night and enjoy the company of others during some downtime in an otherwise busy schedule.

Reducing Your Work Lunch Expenses was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Ranchway, Nellie’s and Roberto’s are among the towns oldest restaurants and definitely favorites.  If you have only one time to eat at each, pick the Flautas at Ranchway (604 N. Valley; 523-7361)  you can get two if you want to be stuffed to the rim but one will most likely fill you.  They are made differently than most places.  You are sure to enjoy them.  The only warning I have for Ranchway is that they leave for a couple of weeks every summer and close up the restaurant completely, so you might miss the chance to visit them.  Get the sopaipilla compuesta at Nellie’s (1226 West Hadley; 505/524-9982; 505/526-6816) and the Tamales or Burritos at Roberto’s (908 E Amador Ave; (575) 523-1851).  If you want to bring flavor from the southwest home with you, be sure to visit Roberto’s, they also sell their food in bulk and package it for traveling.

The hands down favorite from every local I have talked to is at My Brothers Place (336 S Main St; (575) 523-7681), fondly shortened to Brothers by most.  Green enchiladas reign supreme here.  According to the locals, there is no better place for them in Las Cruces.  The atmosphere is considerably upscale from the others (which is not saying much) you can still dine in shorts and flip flops without offending anybody.

If you have tried all of these restaurants and are looking for something with a fancier feel that still has good food, head back to Old Mesilla and give La Posta (2401 Calle De San Albino; (575) 524-3524) a try.  It has a nice gift shop, birds in the atrium and nice decor throughout.  The food is great too.

For a fast food experience, steer clear of the standard McDonalds or Burger King and head to Blake’s or Sonic.  Be sure to order your burger with chili for a flavorful kick you just won’t get at home.  In Las Cruces, chili is code for the Hatch chili grown nearby, not beans, ground beef, and spices.

The food alone makes a trip to Las Cruces, New Mexico, worth it but when you add the quaint village of Old Mesilla and the active community it makes this city hard to pass up.

A Taste of Las Cruces was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

It takes less time. You don’t have to take the effort of driving to a grocery store, desperately looking up and down the aisles for the one or two items you just can’t seem to line and waiting forever in the checkout line. Your time has a value, and if you can save an hour or two a week by having someone else get your groceries for you, it could be worth it.

It’s better for your car. You don’t have to pay for any gasoline to get to the grocery store or have additional wear and tear on your vehicle when you have your groceries delivered to you. Instead a van will take all the deliveries for the day out and drop them off for you and anyone else who ordered groceries that day.

Impulsive purchases are avoided. When you’re picking out your groceries online, you won’t get tempted to purchase some sweets that you really don’t need. You are far removed from the items that you are purchasing, so the impulsive purchases that normally occur at the grocery store just won’t happen. You’ll spend less on groceries and end up saving money in the long run.

Better Organization . When you shop for groceries online, you can easily plan out the ingredients you will need to cook for a week and order only those ingredients. It takes all the guess work out of grocery shopping. You’ll have exactly what you need and know exactly what you will be paying for it.

You will eat healthier. When all of the junk food at the grocery store isn’t right in front of your face, it is a lot easier to resist buying it. Since your further removed from your purchases, you can purchase food based on your intellect and what you know is healthy rather than the emotional cravings that hunger causes. You’ll end up getting a lot healthier food, probably without even realizing it.

Why Having Groceries Delivered To Your Door Might Make Financial Sense was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Here are some tips to help keep you and your family safe and avoid bills from the emergency room this summer.

Whether you use a gas or charcoal grill is up to your family’s preference. The one thing that rings true for both is to never leave a hot grill unattended for any period of time. Children can easily get injured playing around a grill. You also can run the risk of having a fire that gets out of control and causes damage.

To keep stomachs safe, make sure meats are cooked to proper temperature: Chicken (175 degrees), beef (160 degrees), and pork (155 degrees). Make sure all food is put in a cooler or the refrigerator after everyone has finished eating. Anything perishable left out for more than an hour should be thrown away.

When you take cooked food off of the grill, do not put it on the same plate as the raw food.

Wear oven mitts to prevent burns to your arms and hands when working around the grill. Keep away from loose fitting clothes to prevent accidental fires and more serious injuries.

After use, clean your grill and grilling accessories well. Not only will they be ready for the next time, you will get a longer life out of your grill.

Stick to the basics when buying barbeque supplies. Plan ahead for the summer and consider what would be appropriate for buying in bulk. If your family tends to cook out often during the summer, pick up supplies like paper plates, pickles, condiments, and other items that are non-perishable and keep them in the pantry for impromptu gatherings.

Buy meats that are on sale. Use different marinade recipes to spice up the flavor of the foods.

Skip the pre-made burgers at the supermarket. Instead, make burgers at home and save money. Just remember to pat gently when forming the burger so you don’t squeeze out all of the moisture.

Don’t spend money on sugary soft drinks. Instead make homemade lemonade or iced tea to refresh your thirst or just drink plain ice water.

Summer Barbeque Safety and Savings was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

1. 1. For meat eating families, couples or even single people – buy your meat in the family pack size.  It is almost always cheaper per “unit” than buying smaller packages.  For example, a package containing 3 chicken breasts might cost $4.20 but the family pack of chicken breasts containing 8 or more breasts may be about $11.  Simply repackage the meat when you get home in single-use portions (what you would cook at one time) and freeze.

2. Skip the processed foods and eat the real thing.  It’s often more convenient to grab a box of something and whip it up for dinner, but it costs more per serving and it’s just not as healthy as getting the raw ingredients and making it yourself.  If time is an issue, you can always spend an hour or two on the weekend preparing meals and freezing, but honestly- can you really not find 30 minutes to prepare a healthy dinner?

3. Drink water.  Your coffee habit isn’t healthy, and it’s costing you money.  So is the soda, kool-aid, powdered drink mixes and anything else you drink on a regular basis.  Switch to tap water (get a Brita or other filter if you’re afraid it’s not safe to drink) and not only are you giving your body something healthy that it needs, but you’ll save unnecessary money on other beverages.  Save your other beverage selections for special occasions and lunch dates and make water your primary every-day drink.

4. Plan ahead, make and use a shopping list.  You can literally plan your meals in advance to make sure you use up all of the items you buy.  Have you ever bought broccoli for a recipe and had some left over that just went to waste?  Plan your meals so that you use every last bit of the produce and meats you purchase, and your food budget will go further with less waste.  Shopping from a list stops impulse buys, too.

5. Plant a garden or shop from the local farmer’s market.  If produce is expensive at your local grocery store, plant your own garden.  You can grow most of your own vegetables and herbs and save considerable amounts of money.  Your vegetables can be cut and frozen to last into the fall and winter months, as well.    If you can’t make time to garden, visit the local farmer’s market for your produce purchases- they usually have healthier produce with lower prices.

You can save money on healthy eating with a little planning, but it’s not the only benefit of eating healthier.  Healthier eating gives you a healthier body, which will result in less trips to the doctor.  Healthy means feeling good, too, which effects everything you do!

5 Tips for Cheaper, Healthier Eating was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

• Consider the ingredients in a Lunchable and similar items. Buy some of the same ingredients such as pepperoni, cheese, pretzel sticks and create your own. Buy some separated lunch containers with a lid that you can reuse over and over. Make sure they are not so expensive that you can’t afford to lose a few over the summer.

• Instead of plain old PB&J, use cookie cutters to create fun-shaped finger sandwiches. Choose a new flavor of jelly and try crunchy instead of smooth peanut butter as an alternative.

• Use the cookie cutter technique to get kids to eat tuna or egg salad sandwiches for variation.

• Keep a supply of sliced melons, oranges, carrot and celery sticks easily accessible to encourage healthy snacking.

• Keep other snacks like crackers and pretzels in sandwich bags. It makes it easy to grab on the go.

• Save containers from pudding, applesauce, and fruit cups and refill them instead of buying new items.

• Save microwave dinner containers and use them to freeze leftover dinners for lunches in the future.

• Buy kid-friendly frozen items like chicken nuggets and French fries that can be heated up fast and keep your family out of the fast-food joints.

• Have a make your own pizza contest using English muffins, sauce and toppings.

• In hot weather, appetites can get lighter. Keep a rotating supply of lunch meat or salad fixings to make a lunch that’s not too heavy.

• Make homemade popsicles using ice or pop trays with real juice for a refreshing treat

• Have a change of scenery. Take a picnic lunch to the park, lake, or even the backyard.

While it is important that kids eat the right foods, it’s also good to have fun with food. Gather your family and invent other fun ways to make lunch at home. Staying creative during the summer months will not only save you extra money, the whole family will have a blast as well.

Lunchtime Lessons: Cheap Fixin’s and Good Ideas was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

The price increase results from the increased demand but decreased production of wheat. Farmers who have traditionally planted the fields of wheat are beginning to replace some of the wheat and are planting corn fields instead. Why the change? Mostly it is due to the high demand for the alternative energy source, ethanol. Ethanol is being touted as a promising alternative to gasoline. It is relatively easy to manufacture and process and can be created from common materials like corn. Because corn can be used as a chief component in the processing of Ethanol, farmers are now discovering a renewed and profitable demand for corn so they are growing more of it to meet that demand.

While most wheat farmers still grow wheat, the production is limited and causing a wheat shortage worldwide. Some countries are now forbidding any wheat products to cross over the border and others have had to man the wheat production facilities with armed guards. All over, manufacturers have to increase prices of products made from wheat to cover the additional expenses of the ingredients. Experts are noting that with the wheat prices increase, it is the fastest rising food inflation in the last 15 years. Many farmers have not seen prices this high in their lifetime.

If you are partial to wheat products but find you can not afford the raise in prices, there are substitute items you can use to replace wheat ingredients. Because many people have an allergy to wheat, there are plenty of cost-effective ideas that can be found online, such substituting wheat flour with rye flour, oat flour, and potato flour. Try baking your own breads and pastries at home that include a less-expensive alternative. Cereals are already an expensive grocery item so keep your eyes open for special deals and coupons and stock up.

HOW TO DEAL WHEN THE CUPBOARD STAPLES ARE GETTING EXPENSIVE was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

This is coming at a time when McDonalds is ready to drop the double cheeseburger from its dollar menu all together. Many franchisees are upset because the double cheeseburger is not a profitable item for the stores at a $1.00 price point. Complaints have been made that consumers will come in, order two double cheeseburgers and a glass of water; the store will lose money from that customer!

The major fast food chains frequently offer special sandwiches and discounted prices on certain items as a way to draw customers back into their stores more often. How many times have you gone to Burger King, McDonalds, or another restaurant to try some new item they have? The technique is very successful to draw in business, and as the economy continues to remain on shaky ground, we will likely see the fast food chains come up with better deals and more innovative food items to attempt to draw customers in.

McDonalds and Burger King Entering into New Price War Competition was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Thanksgiving is easily in the top two or three holidays for most Americans. Who doesn’t love spending time with family and gorging themselves all sorts of delicious tryptophan laced foods? Thanksgiving day is usually extremely relaxing and fun, unless you have to cook. It takes a lot of work to make a dinner like that happen, but by following these tips you can cook your thanksgiving in a fraction of what it would take otherwise.The first thing you need to do is get organized ahead of time. Have recipes for everything you want to cook and make a shopping lit for the items that you need. Go into your favorite grocery store several days ahead of time to make sure that you have all the ingredients needed. Also make sure that you have all the dishes that you will need to present the meal, such as glassware, silverware and serving containers.

Most people end up buying a large turkey and having turkey left-overs for the following two weeks. A good rule of thumb is to get a pound of turkey for each person sitting at the table, so if you only have 5 or 6 people, a smaller 8 pound turkey will do you fine. If you have a small family, you might even consider not getting a fully turkey. You could just get a turkey breast instead if your family doesn’t like dark meat.

A lot of people get themselves into trouble when cooking Thanksgiving dinner because they simply have too many sides. Some people put out multiple types of potatoes and multiple dressings. Keep your side-dishes manageable, no more than four. After that things just become to complicated unless you have multiple cooks and are feeding a large group.

Ask for help. If you have guests coming over, ask them if they would be willing to bring the dessert or a side-dish to help cut back on the work that you have to do. If there’s another cook among you feel free to ask for some help in the kitchen. Chances are there’s something someone else could do to make your day a little bit easier.

Another good suggestion is to prepare any food you can the day before. You could easily make a pie on the day before and be just fine. The same could be true for a number of the other sides.

Keep your decorations simple. Remember, people are there for the food, not the fancy center piece. There’s no reason to put a lot of time and effort into a gorgeous centerpiece when a simple flower arrangement will suffice!

Thanksgiving dinner can take a substantial amount of effort to make happen, but by following these tips you can have a much more successful thanksgiving dinner.

How to Make an Amazing Thanksgiving Dinner in Half the Time was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Pretty much everyone has a sweet tooth and enjoys a delicious Snickers, Hershey’s, or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups every now and then. Of course these food items have no nutritional value, but they sure taste good, and it can’t hurt once and a while. When we purchase pop and candy, we usually do it very impulsively, often from a vending machine at work or school. Although they’re rather convenient, vending machines are the single most expensive way to purchase pop and candy and often you’ll receive stale products which have been sitting there for months on end!

$0.75 for a candy bar and $1.25 for a 20 oz soda doesn’t seem like a ton of money up front, but when we consider it to the prices we can get from a typical grocery store, it boggles the mind as to why we pay so much for our favorite snack foods inside vending machines.

When you purchase soda from a vending machine, you’re probably paying around 6.25 cents per ounce for your soda. Many grocery stores have a deal where you can purchase six 24 oz sodas (usually all standard Coke products) for just $2.50 or $2.65 after sales tax in South Dakota. At this price your soda is still in a nice bottle that you can carry around with you and bring to work, but now you’re only paying 1.84 cents per ounce! When you purchase soda out of a vending machine, you’re easily paying three times what you should be if not more!

What about candy bars? Usually I can find a deal where the grocery store will sell 6 full-sized candy bars for $2.00, or 33.3 cents per each candy bar. That’s a lot better deal than the $0.75 you’ll typically pay at a vending machine these days!
Depending on who fills your vending machine, the candy you receive from your vending machine might sit there for months. Unless it’s frequented on a daily basis by most everyone in the office, some candy bars can sit in a machine for months if the vendor doesn’t make it a very clear point to make sure the dates on the candy bars are good. Nobody likes to fork over $1.00 for a snack and only to have it be hard, stale, and taste like crap.

Vending machines sure are convenient and a way to satisfy an impulsive hunger desire, but they’re still a rip-off. If you do some careful planning and bring some soda to work or school with you, you can get higher-quality snack food for a lot less money.

Never Purchase Pop or Candy from a Vending Machine Again. was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Most of us spend a significantly more than $25.00 each week on our grocery budgets, especially those who live in metropolitan areas and have higher food costs. I wondered if I had to eat on $25.00 each week for groceries and could literally eat nothing else, how would I make it happen?

I came up with a sample grocery budget:
- ½ Gallon of Milk $2.00
- Generic box of cereal $2.50
- 3 cans of Soup – $3.50
- 2 Lunchables – $3.00
- Loaf of Bread – $1.00
- Cheese Slices – $2.00
- Turkey Slices – $1.50
- 1 12pk Mountain Lightning (generic Mountain Dew) – $2.50
- 5 Banquet Frozen Dinners – $6.00
- 4 Banana’s – $1.00

It’s a pretty meager grocery budget, that’s for sure. For my 21 meals in a week, I’d have 5 frozen dinners, 2 Lunchables, 3 cans of soup, 6 bowls of cereal, and 5 turkey and cheese sandwiches. That’ll make for 21 meals in a week for just at $25.00. It would be just enough to get by, but it sure wouldn’t be fun to eat!

If you lose your job or have another financial crisis which makes it so that you have to live on a mere $25.00 a week, consider reading our posts: “How to Rise for the Rising Cost of Groceries” and “How to Eat on $20.00 a Month”.

Could You Survive With Only $25.00 a Week for Groceries? was created by and is property of American Consumer News.