This is a topic my husband and I disagree on - is it appropriate for a family on a budget to lease a car?

I say no. He says yes.

We have some experience with this: My husband leased his current car when he “bought” it in 2000. I was horrified. He thought it was practical. We were moving to Michigan because I got a new job in Monroe. He was going to be commuting to his existing job an hour away in Ohio.

And, given his commute, he wanted a car that was reliable.

While the man prides himself on paying bills on time and maintains a good credit score, his income level was not high enough to buy a new car. He worked for a local radio station in those days, and those jobs did / do not pay a lot of money. (One friend quit the radio station because he had a family and couldn’t afford to work for such a low wage.)

The initial review from the credit union came back with an amount that could get him a decent used car (my choice) or into a lease (his choice).

“What are you going to do about the mileage?” I asked. “You’re going to run up that lease allowance long before the lease is due.”

“I’ll buy the car at the end of the lease.”

And so he did.

But here’s what we ran into when we bought out the lease — he had been permanently laid off from that radio job in the meantime and was working at an officer clerk job through a temporary agency.

While the pay was decent enough, the financing company didn’t like that “contract job” situation one bit.

I had to co-sign that car loan. Reason: I had a “permanent” job.

Regardless of the fact it took much longer to pay off the car than if we had bought it outright, refinancing on a fixed date was a very bad situation to have put ourselves into.

We remembered that ordeal when we bought our house. We remembered a similar problem I had with increasing payments after a student loan refinancing. We did not want to be forced into a home refinancing during a time that might be inconvenient for us.

So we bought our house in 2004 on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. (As it turns out, THAT was a smart move!)

And when I bought my current car in 2006, I insisted on BUYING a car. There was no way I would sign a lease.

I aimed first at the certified used car market, and ended up with a “program car.” My car was originally part of the dealer’s rental fleet - it still acted and smelled like a new car, but with a much lower price because it had already been titled to the dealer.

Today, my husband and I were watching the TV news during my lunch break (his factory is currently on layoff) and I point out to him the headlines that have been popping up the past couple of days about car companies and finance companies getting out of the car leasing business. (CNN story.) (Detroit News story.) (Detroit Free Press story.) (Associated Press article on page 1A of today’s print and e-editions of The Monroe Evening News.)

Would my husband still “buy” a leased car? Surprisingly, he says yes.

“What options are there for families like ours?”

He hates haggling over car prices and is very hesitant about buying a used car.

The other consideration, as he pointed out, is that his paycheck these days comes from an auto supplier.

If cars aren’t moving off the dealer lots, he’s not building auto parts.

Now, the real solution should be: auto makers designing practical cars that families on a budget can purchase without having to resort to employee discount plans or strange financial contortions to afford them.

Or is that just too simple of an idea to implement?

In the meantime, if you’re a family on a budget, here’s what you’re up against:

It’s going to be harder to lease a vehicle during the foreseeable future. You’ll need to search in the used car market, or aim for the budget-friendly small cars.