Cooler upstairs, and how to circulate air

Hello there, hope this is the right place to post this. We just moved to Phoenix and are in a two level townhouse. I've lived in AZ before and am no stranger to heat (and I don't mind a dry heat) but we're trying to figure out efficient cooling of our new place. We are young, don't have a whole lot of discretionary cash, and are renting, therefore options are limited. So here's the scenario:

One compressor/heat pump for the two level approx 1350sqft townhouse. Have a programmable thermostat and on a on/off peak electric plan. The bedrooms are on the second floor, as is the thermostat. The kitchen, living room, office are downstairs. For whatever reason, upstairs feels cooler than downstairs (defying conventional wisdom, right?) but we find ourselves downstairs more often when we're home. I think part of the issue is that the downstairs is pretty much one big open-plan layout with really tall ceilings. We are east-facing and shaded by trees and other two and three level buildings, so I don't know if that helps keep us a little cooler than we otherwise would be.

So my question is: is there a way to get better air circulation around the house? We use ceiling fans but not all rooms have them (like the kitchen and dining areas). Is there a way to get air moving around the house, especially maybe to pull it from upstairs down to the first floor (since we are often downstairs cooking, eating, watching tv)? I see some people talk about box fans around the house, or those pricy Vornados (which honestly just look like an overpriced fan to me), but would those actually work? Or should we just get a cheap standing fan or tower fan for downstairs and call it good? Since the kitchen especially gets warm, I'm trying to placate my wife who keeps wanting to turn the AC lower during mealtime before we are off-peak. Thanks.