Enter up to three existing debts and a potential consolidation loan to see if combining them saves money. Compare monthly payments, total interest, and payoff timeline between keeping debts separate vs consolidating.
Debt consolidation replaces multiple high-rate debts — typically credit cards, personal loans, and medical bills — with a single new loan, ideally at a lower interest rate and a fixed payoff schedule. Done well, it saves real money on interest and simplifies the monthly payment routine. Done badly, it extends the payoff timeline so far that the total interest paid is actually higher despite the lower rate.
The math hinges on three numbers: the weighted average rate of your existing debts, the rate of the consolidation loan, and the time over which the new loan is repaid. A 22% credit card consolidated into a 10% personal loan is an obvious win on rate. But if the new loan stretches 60 months while you would have paid off the credit card in 30 months by maintaining current payments, the total interest paid can be higher despite the lower rate.
This calculator compares the two paths directly: continuing your current monthly payments against each debt vs. consolidating into a single new loan. It accounts for the consolidation fee (typically 1–8% of the loan amount) and shows the true savings (or cost) of the trade. Use it to make the consolidation decision quantitatively, and to choose the right consolidation term — shorter terms save money; longer terms lower monthly payments.
Debt 1: $10,000 credit card at 24% APR, minimum $250/month Debt 2: $6,000 credit card at 19% APR, minimum $180/month Debt 3: $4,000 store card at 28% APR, minimum $100/month Continuing minimums: ~$8,000 in interest over ~3.5 years of payments. Consolidation: $20,000 personal loan at 11% APR, 48-month term, 3% origination fee. New loan amount: $20,600. Monthly payment: $533. Total interest: ~$5,070. Savings: ~$2,900, plus a fixed payoff date 48 months out. Strong consolidation case.
Two debts: $8,000 at 16% APR with $300/month payment; $5,000 at 14% APR with $200/month. Aggressive payoff path: At current payments, these clear in roughly 30 and 28 months respectively. Total interest paid: ~$2,400. Consolidation: $13,000 + 4% fee = $13,520. 60-month term at 10% APR. Monthly payment: $287. Total interest paid: ~$4,720. Result: $2,320 MORE in total cost despite the lower rate. The 60-month term doubled the payoff time and gave the bank more interest. The lower monthly payment ($287 vs $500) makes it feel cheaper but costs more. Lesson: a longer term often defeats the rate benefit. Choose a term close to your current aggressive payoff timeline.
Same $20,000 in credit card debt as Example 1, but consolidating via a HELOC at 8.5% (variable, but currently fixed). HELOC interest-only payment during draw: ~$142/month. Full amortization later. If you maintain the $533/month payment from the personal-loan example: pays off in about 44 months with total interest of ~$2,700. Savings vs personal loan: ~$2,370 vs personal loan ~$5,070. But: now the debt is secured by your home. Default risk shifts from credit damage to foreclosure. The math is best, the risk is highest. Only appropriate if income stability is high and the discipline to maintain the higher voluntary payment is real.
Use this calculator when you have multiple high-interest debts (typically credit cards or unsecured loans) and a credible consolidation option — a personal loan, balance transfer card, HELOC, or 401(k) loan. The math should be the primary input to the decision; emotional appeal of "one payment" is not enough.
Consolidation makes sense when: (1) the consolidation rate is meaningfully lower than the weighted average of existing rates, (2) you can choose a consolidation term close to your current aggressive-payoff timeline (avoiding term extension that erases rate savings), (3) you have the discipline to not run up the original cards again, and (4) the consolidation fee plus interest savings still produces meaningful total savings.
Skip consolidation when: rates are similar, when the only consolidation option significantly extends the term, when origination fees eat most of the savings, or — most importantly — when the underlying spending behavior hasn't changed and you're likely to re-accumulate debt on the now-zeroed credit cards.
Pair this with the personal-loan calculator (for sizing the consolidation loan), the balance-transfer calculator (the credit-card-specific alternative), the credit-card-payoff calculator (to see what aggressive payoff without consolidation looks like), and the debt-snowball calculator (for the alternative behavioral approach of paying off smallest balance first regardless of rate).
A common variant worth knowing: balance transfer cards offer 0% APR for 12–21 months in exchange for a 3–5% transfer fee. For small to mid-size credit card balances ($3K–$15K) and disciplined payoff plans, balance transfers often beat both consolidation loans and HELOCs on math — because the introductory 0% rate is unbeatable. The catch is the post-intro APR (typically 20%+) on any remaining balance.
Calculate monthly payments, total interest, and effective APR for a personal loan.
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Calculate available credit and payments for a home equity line of credit.
Current Total Payment
$550/mo
Consolidated Payment
$402/mo
Monthly Savings
$148
Total Interest Savings
$1,899