People type this into search every day: debt consolidation calculator.
The usual pitch is one payment and a lower rate. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says that can still cost more. A longer term and a fee can eat the rate cut.
This page is a labeled example. It is not a lending offer, and it is not personalized financial advice.
One new loan against the path you already have
The CFPB note on consolidating credit card debt says a consolidation loan turns several balances into one installment. Banks, credit unions, and other lenders offer that product. The same page says a lower monthly payment can come from stretching the years, not from a cheaper loan.
It also flags teaser rates that rise later, and fees you would not pay if you kept the old accounts. Its personal installment loan note says those loans are closed-end. You get the cash once and repay a fixed amount for a set term. People use them to consolidate existing debt.
The debt consolidation comparison calculator does not pick a lender. It compares two cash totals:
current payment × months remaining
against
new amortized payment × new months + fees
The new payment is the same amortizing formula as the personal loan payment post:
balance × monthly rate × (1 + monthly rate)^n ÷ ((1 + monthly rate)^n − 1)
n is years × 12, rounded. The tool assumes the current payment and months already describe the old payoff path, and that you add no new debt. Those are the published assumptions.
Fig 1
Old path versus new loan
The result is the gap between two cash totals.
Multiply the current payment by the months left. Build a new amortizing payment, multiply by the new term, then add fees.
A positive result is an estimated saving. A negative result is an estimated added cost. The label on the calculator flips with the sign.
The snowball vs avalanche post is the version where you keep the old accounts and only change the order. Consolidation replaces those accounts with a new loan.
Example 1: the published $24,000 at 9% for four years
Here are the calculator defaults:
- debts being consolidated: $24,000
- current combined monthly payment: $760
- estimated months remaining: 42
- new loan annual rate: 9%
- new loan term: 4 years
- consolidation fees: $500
Current remaining payments: 760 × 42 = $31,920.00
New months: 4 × 12 = 48
New monthly payment: $597.24
New total with fees: $29,167.57
Estimated saving: 31920.00 − 29167.57 = $2,752.43
Calculator result
Debt consolidation comparison
- Debts being consolidated
- $24,000.00
- Current combined monthly payment
- $760.00
- Estimated months remaining
- 42 months
- New loan annual rate
- 9%
- New loan term
- 4 years
- Consolidation fees
- $500.00
$2,752.43
estimated saving
- New monthly payment
- $597.24
- Current remaining payments
- $31,920.00
- New total with fees
- $29,167.57
The payment drops 760 − 597.24 = $162.76. The new loan lasts 48 − 42 = 6 extra months. You still send back less cash in this model because 9% plus a $500 fee beats the old path.
Fig 2 · 1/2
Cash left to send
Defaults: $24,000 rolled into 9% for four years.
Remaining cash
Keep paying
$31,920
Consolidate
$29,168
The current path still has $31,920.00 of payments.
The new loan plus the $500 fee is $29,167.57. The gap is $2,752.43.
New scheduled payments alone are 597.24 × 48 = $28,667.57. Add the $500 fee and you get the $29,167.57 line.
Example 2: an $8,000 pair at 11% for three years
- balance: $8,000
- current payment: $420
- months remaining: 24
- new rate: 11%
- new term: 3 years
- fees: $200
Current remaining: 420 × 24 = $10,080.00
New months: 36
New payment: $261.91
New total with fees: $9,628.75
Estimated saving: $451.25
Calculator result
Debt consolidation comparison
- Debts being consolidated
- $8,000.00
- Current combined monthly payment
- $420.00
- Estimated months remaining
- 24 months
- New loan annual rate
- 11%
- New loan term
- 3 years
- Consolidation fees
- $200.00
$451.25
estimated saving
- New monthly payment
- $261.91
- Current remaining payments
- $10,080.00
- New total with fees
- $9,628.75
The payment drops 420 − 261.91 = $158.09. The term grows by a year. The cash save is $451.25, not thousands. A smaller book of debt has a smaller gap.
Example 3: a $36,000 stack at 8% for five years
- balance: $36,000
- current payment: $1,100
- months remaining: 48
- new rate: 8%
- new term: 5 years
- fees: $750
Current remaining: 1100 × 48 = $52,800.00
New months: 60
New payment: $729.95
New total with fees: $44,547.01
Estimated saving: $8,252.99
$1,100 − 729.95 = $370.05 less each month. The new loan runs a year longer. The $8,252.99 save is the rate cut doing real work on a larger balance.
Example 4: what if I change only the rate
Keep $24,000, $760 for 42 months, 4 years, and $500. Change the new annual rate.
7%:
Payment: $574.71
New total with fees: $28,086.07
Estimated saving: $3,833.93
9% default:
Payment: $597.24
Saving: $2,752.43
15%:
Payment: $667.94
New total with fees: $32,561.02
Estimated added cost: $641.02
15% is worse than staying put. The payment still looks lighter than $760. The extra six months and the $500 fee overtake the cut. That is the CFPB warning in numbers.
Fig 3 · 1/3
The same $24,000 at three rates
Four-year term. $500 fee on every bar.
- New total with fees
| Category | New total with fees |
|---|---|
| 7% | $28k |
| 9% | $29k |
| 15% | $33k |
7% finishes at $28,086.07.
9% is $29,167.57. 15% is $32,561.02, which is $641.02 above the old path.
Example 5: what if I change only the term
Keep $24,000, 9%, $760 for 42 months, and $500. Change the years.
3 years, 36 months:
Payment: $763.19
New total with fees: $27,974.97
Estimated saving: $3,945.03
4 years, the default:
Payment: $597.24
Saving: $2,752.43
6 years, 72 months:
Payment: $432.61
New total with fees: $31,648.13
Estimated saving: $271.87
The three-year payment is 763.19 − 760 = $3.19 above the current $760. It still saves $3,945.03 because you stop sooner. The six-year payment is 760 − 432.61 = $327.39 lighter and almost erases the save.
Fig 4 · 1/2
What the new loan sends back
Same $24,000 at 9%. Fee stays $500.
- New payments
- Fees
| Category | New payments | Fees |
|---|---|---|
| 3 years | $27k | $500 |
| 4 years | $29k | $500 |
| 6 years | $31k | $500 |
Scheduled payments fall as the term grows.
The $500 fee sits on every bar. Six years almost matches the old $31,920 path.
Example 6: the common mistake, pick the lower payment
Keep the default old path. Take a 10% loan for 7 years with an $800 fee.
- new rate: 10%
- new term: 7 years
- fees: $800
New months: 84
New payment: $398.43
New total with fees: $34,267.99
Estimated added cost: $2,347.99
$398.43 is 760 − 398.43 = $361.57 lighter than the current payment. The loan runs 84 − 42 = 42 extra months. You send $2,347.99 more than if you kept paying $760 for 42 months.
The CFPB page says a lower monthly payment can come from a longer time, and that fees can make the new loan cost more overall. This is that case.
Example 7: a 0% rate still has a fee
Keep $24,000, 4 years, and $500. Set the new rate to 0%.
Payment: 24000 ÷ 48 = $500.00
New total with fees: 500 × 48 + 500 = $24,500.00
Estimated saving: 31920 − 24500 = $7,420.00
Zero interest does not make the loan free. The $500 fee is still cash. A promotional 0% is also the teaser the CFPB warns about. If the rate jumps later, rerun the tool at the later rate.
Example 8: $18,000 of cards versus a 9.5% loan
This one is closer to the credit card payoff defaults, just scaled.
- balance: $18,000
- current payment: $540
- months remaining: 48
- new rate: 9.5%
- new term: 4 years
- fees: $400
Current remaining: 540 × 48 = $25,920.00
New payment: $452.22
New total with fees: $22,106.39
Estimated saving: $3,813.61
Calculator result
Debt consolidation comparison
- Debts being consolidated
- $18,000.00
- Current combined monthly payment
- $540.00
- Estimated months remaining
- 48 months
- New loan annual rate
- 9.5%
- New loan term
- 4 years
- Consolidation fees
- $400.00
$3,813.61
estimated saving
- New monthly payment
- $452.22
- Current remaining payments
- $25,920.00
- New total with fees
- $22,106.39
$540 for 48 months is the old path you typed. If the cards last longer than 48 months at $540, the current total is low and the save is overstated. If you pay them off sooner, the current total is high and the save shrinks.
The published credit card default is $6,200 at 21.9% with a $250 payment. That path prints 2y 10m and $2,130.04 of interest. Consolidation math starts after you know that remaining path.
Example 9: a fatter fee on the default loan
Keep every default except fees. Raise the fee from $500 to $1,800.
New payment stays $597.24
New total with fees: $30,467.57
Estimated saving: $1,452.43
The extra $1,300 of fee cuts the save from $2,752.43 to $1,452.43. The monthly number does not move. Fees sit outside the payment, the same way the personal-loan tool treats an origination charge.
Fig 5 · 1/2
Cash sent after each year
Default $760 path versus the 9% four-year loan.
Cumulative cash
- Keep paying
- Consolidate
| Point | Keep paying | Consolidate |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | $0.00 | $500 |
| 1y | $9.1k | $7.7k |
| 2y | $18k | $15k |
| 3y | $27k | $22k |
| 4y | $32k | $29k |
After two years the old path has sent $18,240.
The new loan, fee included, has sent $14,833.76 by then and $29,167.57 by year four.
Year-one new cash is 597.24 × 12 + 500 = $7,666.88. Year four is the $29,167.57 total. The old path hits $31,920.00 at 3.5 years and then stops. The line parks that last total at the four-year mark so both series share one axis.
The nine paths next to each other
| Example | Balance | Old payment × months | New rate | Term | Fees | New payment | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Defaults | $24,000 | $760 × 42 | 9% | 4y | $500 | $597.24 | $2,752.43 save |
| 2. Smaller book | $8,000 | $420 × 24 | 11% | 3y | $200 | $261.91 | $451.25 save |
| 3. Larger book | $36,000 | $1,100 × 48 | 8% | 5y | $750 | $729.95 | $8,252.99 save |
| 4a. 7% rate | $24,000 | $760 × 42 | 7% | 4y | $500 | $574.71 | $3,833.93 save |
| 4b. 15% rate | $24,000 | $760 × 42 | 15% | 4y | $500 | $667.94 | $641.02 extra |
| 5a. Three years | $24,000 | $760 × 42 | 9% | 3y | $500 | $763.19 | $3,945.03 save |
| 5b. Six years | $24,000 | $760 × 42 | 9% | 6y | $500 | $432.61 | $271.87 save |
| 6. Cheap payment | $24,000 | $760 × 42 | 10% | 7y | $800 | $398.43 | $2,347.99 extra |
| 7. Zero interest | $24,000 | $760 × 42 | 0% | 4y | $500 | $500.00 | $7,420.00 save |
| 8. Card-like book | $18,000 | $540 × 48 | 9.5% | 4y | $400 | $452.22 | $3,813.61 save |
Open the debt consolidation comparison calculator with the balances you would roll, the payment you make now, and the months that payment still has to run. Put the new APR, the new years, and the fee from the disclosure.
If you keep the old accounts, the snowball vs avalanche calculator compares order on the same monthly cash. The credit card payoff calculator is the remaining path on one revolving balance. Debt-to-income is the check after you know the new payment: $597.24 on $6,500 of monthly gross is 597.24 ÷ 6500 = 9.2% from this one loan.