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.
Definitions
- 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 4% 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 4% 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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