You feel like there's a vise around your midsection, and it's getting harder to breathe. Maybe you left your jeans in the dryer too long. Or maybe you're being squeezed by rising interest rates.

Last month, the Federal Reserve Board pushed up short-term interest rates for the 15th time since June 2004 and suggested it will do it again in May. Banks responded by raising the prime rate, the benchmark for most consumer loans to 7.75 percent.

As a result, rates on home equity lines of credit, car loans and credit cards are up. If you're in the market for a new car or want to renovate your kitchen, it will cost you more to borrow.

And if you've got a credit card with a variable interest rate, your balance will get bigger faster unless you pay it off.

After several years of record low interest rates, this is a painful trend for borrowers. How to cope in a rising-rate environment:

Home equity lines of credit. The average rate for a home equity line of credit is 7.83 percent. Homeowners who borrowed against their homes in 2004, when rates fell below 5 percent, "face the prospect of repaying that debt in a drastically different interest-rate environment," says Greg McBride, senior analyst for Bankrate.com.

Demand for home equity lines of credit remains strong, particularly among homeowners looking to pay off high-interest credit cards. But if you're considering a home equity line, keep in mind that rate is variable, and will likely go higher.

One alternative is a home equity loan, which is a loan against your home that must be paid off over a set period at a fixed rate. The average rate on a home equity loan is 7.56 percent. But in exchange for a slightly lower fixed rate, you give up the flexibility of a home equity line, McBride says.

A home equity line lets you borrow only as much as you need, making it a good source of emergency cash. And if rates go down, the rate on your home equity line will drop, too. "That variable rate that's going up now could just as easily go the other way in a year or two," he says.

As always, it pays to shop around, because rates for home equity lines can vary among lenders, says Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH Associates, a publisher of information about mortgages and consumer loans. Some of the best rates are available through small banks and credit unions that are trying to attract borrowers and don't have big marketing budgets, he says. You can compare rates in your area at www.bankrate.com.

Be wary of a rate that's significantly lower than average. It might be an introductory rate that will jump much higher in a few months. If you can pay off your balance before the introductory rate expires, you're ahead of the game. But if you still have a balance at the end of the period, you'll have to repay it at a much higher rate.