A Commerce Department report released last week confirmed that Americans are continuing to spend more than they make, setting the stage for more increases in foreclosure activity in 2007.

The Personal Income and Outlays report pegged the country's personal savings rate at negative 1 percent in 2006, lower than the negative 0.4 percent in 2005. Not since the Great Depression has the personal savings rate registered in negative territory for two consecutive years, according to an Associated Press article on the report.

While this negative savings rate may be helping to sustain the country’s growing economy in the short term by infusing the economy with cash, it could also be draining the rainy day funds of many homeowners, leaving them more susceptible to foreclosure.

The good news is that the negative savings rate of the last two years appears to be a byproduct of voracious consumer spending not rampant unemployment like that which occurred during the Great Depression. That means homeowners who spend more than they make have some options to lower their risk of foreclosure. They can spend less in other areas of their budget, increase their income with a new job or another job, refinance at a lower rate, or refinance at a fixed rate if they have an adjustable rate mortgage scheduled to reset in the near future.

More tips on preventing foreclosure.