If it seems as if your paycheck is gone before you get it, you've got company. Spoiled by decades of low inflation and everyday low prices, U.S. consumers and businesses have been blindsided by sudden and dramatic prices increases -- in almost everything from milk to heating oil this year.

Having anything left in the bank is a challenge for many, and with economists predicting even shakier times ahead, many consumers are wondering when the increases will level off.

"The jury's still out on where this tornado goes," said Missy Vatinet, who owns Cary's La Farm Bakery with her husband, Lionel. "We're definitely seeing it everywhere, in every item we're purchasing."

Driving the unease is roaring price increases for the raw materials used in making much of what we consume.

The overall price of U.S. commodities rose 3.1 percent from February to March. That's the largest single-month increase since August 1974 -- the month in which Gerald Ford took office after the resignation of Richard Nixon.

The increases in some commodities are staggering. The price of corn is up 41 percent, including a surge of 14.5 percent in March.

Eggs are 68.5 percent more expensive than a year ago. Then there's gas: Pump prices are up 25 percent from this time last year.

"Consumers are just out of money," said Tony Plath, finance professor in the UNC-Charlotte Belk College of Business. "This is the first time in 30 years the economy has been this seriously threatened."

Budgeting for price increases this sharp and this widespread is a challenge for everyone, from the manager of the household budget to the chief financial officer of a billion-dollar corporation.

Businesses are better able to control the price swings, because they can strike contracts to buy commodities at set prices, Plath said. Businesses can also stockpile supplies and build inflation costs into contracts.

"But that level of sophistication does not extend to households," he said. "The people who are going to be pasted are the households."

Budgeting in unpredictable times is tough, said Steve Gaito, a certified financial planner in Raleigh.

He suggested that households divide their expenses into necessities such as mortgage payments and discretionary purchases.

"You have to take a hard look at your discretionary expenses and say, 'Do I absolutely have to do this now?' " he said.

More than that, people should prioritize their expenses, said Marshall West, a credit counselor with Coastal Federal Credit Union in Raleigh.

"I encourage members to analyze very closely where the money goes," he said, and "downsize the expenses they have control over so they can pay the ones they can't control."

For all the unpredictablilty, folks are doing what they can to get by.

At La Farm Bakery, the Vatinets purchased a large load of flour in January, just before prices doubled. The flour should last them through the spring. Because the purchase came right after the busy holiday season, they were able to pay cash for it.

"We didn't have to factor in the borrowing -- this time," Missy Vatinet said. "We'll see what the future offers us."

'Hit from every angle'

Some varieties of hops that Big Boss Brewing Co. in Raleigh uses in its beer have more than doubled in price. Prices for glass bottles have gone up 9 percent, and a shortage of stainless steel has brewmaster Brad Wynn shipping kegs in from California or Canada.

The brewery raised prices once this year by about 10 percent. Another increase may be on the way.

"There's nothing we can do," he said. "We are getting hit from every angle right now. ... It used to be that when you raised prices, you were making more money. We're just raising prices to keep up."

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