Personal Debt Consolidation
Should you consolidate your debt? This calculator is designed to help
determine whether debt consolidation is right for you. Enter your credit
cards, auto loans and other installment loans balances by clicking on
the "Enter Data" button for each category. Then change the consolidated
loan amount, term or rate to create a loan that will work within your
budget. Click the "View Report" button for detailed results.
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- Credit cards
- Enter your total credit card debt and its average interest rate,
or press the "Enter Data" button to enter up to 10 credit card
accounts, one on each line.
- Auto loans
- Click on the "Enter Data" button to input any auto loans you
may have into the details page. This details page is designed
to let you input your current monthly payment, the term (in months),
the starting balance and the number of months you have left. It
then calculates your outstanding balance and interest rate. You
can enter up to three installment loans.
- Other loans
- Click on the "Enter Data" button to input any additional installment
loans you may have into the details page. This details page is
designed to let you input your current monthly payment, the term
(in months), the starting balance and the number of months you
have left. It then calculates your outstanding balance and interest
rate. You can enter up to six installment loans.
- Balances
- Your total current balances for your credit cards, auto loans
and other loans.
- Interest rates
- The average annual percentage rate you pay. This interest rate
is calculated for each of the categories of debt you have including
credit cards, auto loans and other installment loans. For credit
cards the rate you enter is used to calculate the interest on
all future credit card payments. The length of time to pay off
this credit card may be much greater than calculated if you enter
a low promotional interest rate that is only good for a short
period of time.
- Payment
- This is your initial monthly payment. For credit cards, if you
checked the "use credit card minimum payments" box, your monthly
payment is calculated as 2% of your current outstanding balance.
With the "use credit card minimum payments" box checked, your
monthly payment will decrease as your balance is paid down. This
can greatly increase the length of time it takes to pay off your
credit cards. Uncheck this box to enter your own monthly payment
that will remain the same until your balance is paid in full.
( We calculate your minimum monthly payment as 2% of your current
outstanding balance. While your actual minimum monthly payment
may be slightly different, this is one of the most common methods
used by credit card companies to calculate minimum payments.)
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