Ways out of a killer car lease

Dear Terry,
I've had a leased auto for about a year now and the payments are really draining my funds. I need an automobile. Is there anything that I can do to help my situation? Is it possible to get out of the lease agreement?
-- Georgia

Dear Georgia,
While it's possible to get out of a lease, it usually involves paying hundreds, even thousands of dollars to cover depreciation and penalties.

There are some Web sites that will try to find someone to take over your lease -- Swapalease.com or LeaseTrader.com are two -- but you need to make sure that such deals don't violate the terms of your lease.