Debt payoff calculator.
Compare two paths side by side: keep paying down your credit-card balance, or consolidate it into a fixed-rate personal loan. The calculator shows months to payoff, total interest, and the potential interest savings from consolidating.
Credit card minimum trap
- Months to payoff
- 39 mo
- Total interest
- $3,700
- Total repaid
- $11,700
Personal loan payoff
- Monthly payment
- $273
- Months to payoff
- 36 mo
- Total interest
- $1,843
- Total repaid
- $9,843
You could save $1,857 in interest by consolidating.
Assumes you actually pay off the loan on schedule and don't run the card balance back up. The math only works if you stop adding to the card.
When consolidation makes sense
Consolidating credit-card debt into a personal loan saves money when the loan's effective APR is meaningfully lower than your weighted card APR, and when you can commit to not running the card balance back up. With average U.S. credit-card APRs above 22% and personal-loan APRs starting in the single digits for strong credit, the spread can produce thousands of dollars in interest savings.
The trap to avoid: consolidating, then re-loading the credit cards. That doubles your debt with no benefit. Many people freeze the cards (literally, in a block of ice in the freezer) or close all but one before consolidating.
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