Personal Debt Consolidation Calculator
Compare your current debts with a single personal consolidation loan — the payment, the payoff time and the interest you would save.
A worked example
Running this tool on current national benchmarks (Federal Reserve / Freddie Mac via FRED (St. Louis Fed)) — swap in your own numbers to see how the result moves.
- Total debt to consolidate
- $25,000
- Current average rate
- 19%
- Current total monthly payment
- $650
- Consolidation loan rate
- 12%
- Consolidation term (years)
- 4
new payment $658.35/mo
- New monthly payment$658.35
- New total interest$6,601
- Current total interest$13,853
How the interest you could save changes with total debt to consolidate
Holding the other inputs at the example above, here is how the result moves as total debt to consolidate changes.
| Total debt to consolidate | Interest you could save | New monthly payment |
|---|---|---|
| $15,000 | $145 | $395.01 |
| $20,000 | $2,353 | $526.68 |
| $25,000 | $7,252 | $658.35 |
| $40,000 | $101,026 | $1,053.35 |
| $50,000 | — | $1,316.69 |
The math behind it
The tool compares two paths for the same balance. Your current debts are amortized at their average rate and current payment to find their total interest, while the consolidation loan is amortized at its rate over your chosen term to find its fixed monthly payment and total interest. The difference in total interest is your saving — or, if the new term is long enough, your extra cost. It also reports the new payment and payoff time.
Assumptions & limits
- Current debts are treated as one balance at a single average rate.
- The consolidation loan is a fixed-rate, fixed-term installment loan.
- Both rates are fixed for their respective payoffs.
- No new charges are added to the old debts during comparison.
- Origination fees and prepayment penalties are not modeled — check them on any real offer.
Common questions
Does consolidating always save money?
No. It saves interest only if the new rate is low enough that a shorter or similar term costs less than your current debts. Stretching the same balance over a much longer term can lower the monthly payment while raising total interest — the calculator shows the total-interest figure precisely so you can see which way it lands.
Why did my payment drop but my total interest rise?
A longer term spreads the balance over more months, so each payment is smaller — but you make many more of them, and interest accrues the whole time. Lower payment and higher lifetime cost often travel together. Compare the total-interest numbers, not just the monthly payment.
What is not included in this comparison?
Origination or balance-transfer fees, prepayment penalties, and any change in your rate from your credit profile are not modeled here. A real consolidation offer may carry an upfront fee that eats into the saving, so read the APR and fees before committing.