Does it always seem that your money never goes as far as it should? One of the main culprits are the slow money leaks that we all have. These are generally recurring monthly expenses for a subscription or service that by itself appears quite small, but when you factor in dozens of these potential leaks, it can drain hundreds of dollars from your budget each month.

Examine Your Memberships and Subscriptions

How often are you using that gym membership that you signed up for in January as part of your New Year's resolution to get into shape? Memberships like these can actually be quite costly and if you aren't getting the full use out of the service you are probably throwing money away.

Another good example are the video rental services such as Netflix or Blockbuster. How many movies do you actually receive per month versus what plan you are on? Do you really need to have 3 videos out at one time? If you watch even one or two movies per week you can likely get by on a lesser plan and that could save five bucks a month.

Entertainment Subscriptions

It is no surprise that television and internet services can be very costly. Some households can spend upwards of a few thousand dollars a year on TV and internet service. Take a good look at what your true needs are and find out what cuts can be made. Do you really need that $5-$10 a month premium movie channel? How about the super deluxe platinum package with 500 channels when you only watch a handful of channels?

Even if you find you do want some premium service, you generally don't have to subscribe to it year round. If you want the sports package to catch your favorite college football team do you really need to pay for that package from February through July? Or maybe you subscribe to HBO because you're a die hard Sopranos or Entourage fan. Again, these types of shows don't generally run new episodes year round, and you could save a lot of money by only signing up when you actually want to catch the shows.

Finally, even if you feel you can't make any cuts, you can still save money with a quick phone call. Just like a quick phone call to your credit card company can lead to a lower interest rate, a quick call to your cable or satellite provider may result in receiving a special price for six months. It's worth a try, and it never hurts to ask.

Add It All Up

Remember, the little things add up. Saving $5 here and there may not seem like much, but consider what some small savings amount to over time. Save $5 by changing your Netflix subscription, cancel that $20 a month gym membership you rarely use, reduce your cable bill by $20 and get rid of a few magazines you don't have time to read, and you may realize a monthly savings of $50 or more dollars.

What does $50 a month actually buy you? That could pay a utility bill, an additional $600 going into your retirement account, or work towards building your emergency fund. Another $600 a year applied to the principal of a high-interest credit card can also put a nice dent in that debt you've been trying to eliminate. Whatever the case may be for you, use that as motivation to cut back on these financial leaks that can slowly drain your bank account.

For almost a year now, the Fed has slashed the key fed funds rate from 5.25% all the way down to the current 2%. This is a fairly significant drop in a short amount of time, and while rates aren't expected to continue to drop, the Fed won't likely increase the fed funds rate as drastically as it was cut. This means the relatively low interest rates should be around for a while.

Good for Debt, Bad for Savings

Lower interest rates are good for borrowing money since it means you will be paying less in interest. The bad news is that the Fed rate cuts don't directly translate into lower rates for consumers. These cuts can take many months before the effects are felt on your bottom line, but you can begin shopping for lower rates now. Once you can begin to benefit from the lower rates, you'll have more money in your pocket as less is being spent on interest payments.

While lower interest rates saves you money when borrowing, the opposite is true when you are saving money at the bank. As interest rates fall, the rate of return on your checking, savings and CD accounts will likely follow suit. If you enjoyed the comfortable savings rates during most of 2007, you're probably not very excited as many rates have now dropped below the rate of inflation. If you can, make sure you're getting the best rate possible and explore other banks to ensure you're getting as much interest on your savings as possible.

• How to Plan for Lower Interest Rates
• What Are Interest Rates?
• The Federal Reserve and Interest Rates