Feeling the Squeeze?

The new Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers confirm what you already know: life is getting more expensive by the minute. In May prices rose a larger-than-forecast 0.6 percent, driven by everyday essentials like gas and food. That was the CPI's biggest increase in six months, and it capped off a 12-month period in which prices rose 4.2 percent, up from the 2.9 percent they had risen in the 12 months ending in April. In May fuel oil prices were up 10.4 percent, putting them 64 percent above where they had been a year ago. Milk prices have jumped 10.2 percent over their year-ago level.

None of that is very surprising to consumers, who have been paying more at the grocery and feeling the pain at the pump. Washington is worried, because inflation can snowball when fear of rising prices gets everyone behaving in a way that pushes prices yet higher. Left untreated, it can choke off economic growth. The Federal Reserve, which may have started that ball rolling when it pumped market-saving liquidity into the economy earlier this year, now is expected to begin raising interest rates soon to tamp down that feverish feeling.

So it could get worse before it gets better, as policymakers try to squeeze those inflationary pressures out of the economy (and us). That's their job. Your job is to resist the squeeze play by protecting your own purse from the inflation scourge. Here's how.

1) Hoard
Not to a degree that requires Oprah-like intervention, but act as if you expect everything from toothpaste to toilet paper to cost more next month. It probably will. Stock up big when your favorite brands are on sale.

2) Try to Bump Up Your Earnings
If it seems like the price of your time is the only thing that hasn't gone up, you're right. Median household income has risen 16 percent since 2000; consumer prices are up 20 percent, so you are going backward. Most economic policymakers want to keep it that way; they worry about wage-driven inflation that spirals out of control. But the rest of us worry about salaries that can't keep buying the gas and groceries they bought last week. Use the calculator at http://www.bls.gov/CPI/ to see what your salary should be if it is to keep up with inflation. Bring that figure into your next annual review. If the situation around the office is grim, consider other means of bumping up your income. Look for a better-paying job, moonlight, start a side business from your hobby or take the class that will make you more valuable next time you get a review.

3) Buy Protection for Your Protection
Make sure your homeowner's insurance and your long-term-care insurance carries some sort of inflation protection. Many home insurers have dropped their "total replacement value" guarantees, so you might have to call your insurance agent every year to see whether the numbers need to be bumped up. If you're buying long-term-care insurance, make sure it includes automatic benefit adjustments for rising health care costs.