You may think that it doesn’t make a big difference to pay $500 every month to lease a car. After all, it is nice to drive a new car. But here’s the math: if you pay $500 a month for a car for 30 years, you end up paying $180,000 just for driving a new car. If you drive an old car instead and invest the saved money ($250 or more) you will be much better of 30 years from now.