say you lease a car for 5 years at 300 a month. That's ~18,000 you've paid at the end of the four years and you've got nothing to show for it.

Net Gain/Loss: <$18,000>

say you finance the same car for 5 years for 400 a month (finance payments are always more than lease payments), at which time you have paid the car off. That's a total of $24,000 you've paid, but now this "asset" is yours. Assuming a normal depreciation, As long as the car is worth more than $6,000, you've lost less money than you would if you leased the same car.