Debt Consolidation Calculator

This debt consolidation calculator answers the only question that matters before you consolidate: does rolling everything into one loan actually cost less? Enter each debt's balance, APR, and minimum payment, then the rate, term, and origination fee of the consolidation loan you're considering — a personal loan, a HELOC, or a balance-transfer card. The calculator compares your new single payment against your current combined minimums and, more importantly, the total interest on each path.

Consolidation isn't automatically a win. A lower monthly payment stretched over a longer term can cost more in total interest, and origination fees of 1–8% are common on personal loans, per the CFPB's debt consolidation guidance. This tool surfaces both numbers — cash flow change and total interest change — so you can see exactly which trade you're making.

All inputs stay on your device. If your debts are mostly credit cards and you want to attack them without a new loan, compare with the Credit Card Payoff Calculator or the Debt Payoff Optimizer (snowball/avalanche). If you're considering tapping home equity, the HELOC Calculator shows what your line could look like.

Take the calculator's default scenario — a common mixed-debt profile:

• Credit Card 1: $8,000 at 22.9% APR, $240/month minimum
• Credit Card 2: $4,500 at 19.9% APR, $135/month minimum
• Personal Loan: $6,000 at 11.5% APR, $200/month minimum

Current path (fixed minimums): $575/month combined, debt-free in 4 years 6 months, with about $8,048 in total interest.

Consolidated: one $18,500 loan at 11% for 4 years with a 3% origination fee financed in ($19,055 borrowed). New payment: $492/month. Total interest plus fee: about $5,139.

Result: roughly $2,900 saved, $83/month freed, and debt-free six months sooner. The savings come almost entirely from replacing the 20%+ card APRs — the personal loan portion at 11.5% barely benefits, which is why consolidating only your highest-rate debts is often the sharper move. Delete the low-rate rows in the table and re-run it to see.

Three patterns reliably turn consolidation into a loss, and the calculator will show each one as a warning or a negative savings number:

• Stretching the term. Rolling 3-year debts into a 7-year loan drops the payment but can double the interest. Watch the "Extra Cost of Consolidating" line — if it appears, the lower payment is costing you.
• High origination fees at modest rate improvements. A 5% fee on $20,000 is $1,000 added to your principal on day one. If the rate drop is only 2–3 points, the fee can eat most of the benefit.
• Re-running the cards. The math above assumes the cards stay at zero. The Federal Reserve's consumer credit data shows revolving balances tend to rebuild — the most common way a "successful" consolidation ends up as double debt.

Secured options like HELOCs offer the lowest rates but convert unsecured card debt into debt backed by your home — a meaningful risk upgrade the rate alone doesn't capture.