The finances of American households are getting worse, because of the weakening economy.

Economy.com warns that falling home prices and increasing debt are hurting Americans. More people are using their credit cards to buy things, because banks have tightened their home lending standards. This has made home equity loans harder to get.

Most notable is the fact that while the average American household has a total debt of nearly $120,000, they will save less than $400 this year.

The Federal Reserve says consumer borrowing on credit cards grew at an annual rate of 4.8 percent in July, up from 3.5 percent in June.

Banking analysts report that even though credit card use has gone up, payments on credit card debt continues to fall. Card payments fell 6.2 percent in July, which was the ninth consecutive monthly decline.

Sources: Economy.com, Chicago Tribune.com