| 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 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.)
|
|