The loan runs 3 months longer than your current plan; it still costs less in total.
Consolidating saves $2,414.03. The loan payment is $468.38 a month for 4 years, against $560.00 a month for 3 years 9 months now. Its APR with the fee is 14.77% against a combined 22.09% on the current debts, and it saves money at any loan rate below 17.58%.
Balance owed
Current debtsConsolidation loan
Interest and fees paid
Current debts and the consolidation loan Rows: 4
Debt
Balance
Rate
Payment
Months
Interest
Credit card
$8,500.00
23.99 %
$255.00
45
$5,172.11
Store card
$2,400.00
29.99 %
$95.00
37
$1,419.58
Personal loan
$6,000.00
14.5 %
$210.00
36
$1,404.47
Consolidation loan
$17,789.47
11.99 %
$468.38
48
$4,692.66
How it's calculated S
Current debts
interest=24,896.16−16,900=7,996.16
All payments minus the balances. 3 debts totaling $16,900.00, paid at $560.00 a month (cleared debts' payments move to the highest-rate debt left): repaid after 45 months.
Loan amount and fee
L=1−0.0516,900=17,789.47,fee=889.47
The lender keeps the fee out of the loan, so you borrow more than the debts to receive enough to clear them.
Loan payment
M=(1+r)48−1Lr(1+r)48=468.38
r = 11.99 ÷ 1,200 = 0.00999167 a month.
Total saved
24,896.16−48×468.38=2,414.03
Current total of payments against the loan's payments plus any cash added at closing.
Loan APR including the fee
16,900=M×i1−(1+i)−48⇒APR=12i=14.77%
The fee is a prepaid finance charge, so the APR treats the loan as the amount after the fee (Regulation Z). Solved by bisection.
Break-even loan rate
At 17.58% with the same term and fee, the loan costs exactly what the current debts do; any lower rate saves money.
About the debt consolidation calculator
Two plans are run month by month. Now: each debt accrues its APR ÷ 12 and takes its own payment, and when a debt is cleared its payment moves to the highest-rate debt left. Consolidated: one loan repaid by M = L × r × (1 + r)^n ÷ ((1 + r)^n − 1). When the origination fee comes out of the loan, you borrow the debts ÷ (1 − fee) to receive enough to clear them. The saving is the total paid now minus the loan's payments and any cash added.
With the defaults, three debts totaling 16,900 at 560 a month take 45 months and 7,996.16 of interest. A 48-month loan at 11.99% with a 5% fee borrows 17,789.47, costs 468.38 a month and saves 2,414.03. Its APR with the fee is 14.77% against a combined 22.09% on the debts, and it saves money at any rate below 17.58%.
Rates are held fixed, and cleared cards are assumed to carry no new balances. Promotional balance-transfer rates are not modeled.
Is debt consolidation worth it?
Consolidation saves money when the loan's payments and fees total less than the debts would cost. Debts of 16,900 paid at 560 a month cost 7,996.16 of interest; a 48-month loan at 11.99% with a 5% fee costs 468.38 a month and saves 2,414.03.
The comparison, step by step
The three debts are a credit card (8,500 at 23.99%, paying 255 a month), a store card (2,400 at 29.99%, paying 95) and a personal loan (6,000 at 14.5%, paying 210).
Keep the debts. Each accrues its APR ÷ 12 every month. When one is cleared, its payment moves to the highest-rate debt left, so 560 goes out every month. Everything is repaid after 45 months: 16,900 plus 7,996.16 of interest, or 24,896.16.
Size the loan. A 5% fee taken out of the loan means borrowing 16,900 ÷ 0.95 = 17,789.47 to receive 16,900. The fee is 889.47.
Find the payment. 17,789.47 at 11.99% ÷ 12 over 48 months is 468.38 a month, 22,482.13 in total.
Compare totals. 24,896.16 − 22,482.13 = 2,414.03 saved, even though the loan runs three months longer.
Does a longer consolidation loan save more?
No. These rows keep the same debts, rate and 5% fee and change only the term:
Loan term (months)
Monthly loan payment
Total saved
36
590.78
3628.08
48
468.38
2414.03
60
395.63
1158.53
72
347.70
-137.89
The 36-month loan costs 30.78 more a month than the current payments and saves the most. The 72-month loan cuts the payment by 212.30 and costs 137.89 more in total.
The CFPB's consolidation guidance warns about exactly this: a longer repayment period can cost more overall even with a lower payment.
The break-even rate
The break-even rate is the loan rate at which consolidating costs exactly what keeping the debts would. With this 48-month term and 5% fee, it is 17.58%: any lower rate saves money.
A longer term lowers the break-even rate. At 72 months it falls to 11.78%, which is why that loan at 11.99% loses money.
APR including the fee
A fee taken out of the loan is a prepaid finance charge under Regulation Z, so the APR is figured on the 16,900 you actually receive. Repaying that with 48 payments of 468.38 gives an APR of 14.77%, against the 11.99% note rate.
The current debts behave like one loan at a combined 22.09%. That is higher than their balance-weighted average of 21.47%, because the 14.5% loan is cleared first while the 23.99% card stays unpaid longest.
Paying the fee in cash instead
Paying the 5% fee at closing means borrowing only 16,900, so the fee is 845 and no interest accrues on it. The payment drops to 444.96 and the saving rises to 2,693.14. With no fee at all, the same loan would save 3,538.14.
Common mistakes
Judging by the monthly payment. The lowest payment in the table belongs to the only loan that loses money.
Comparing the note rate with your card rates. Compare the APR including fees: 14.77%, not 11.99%.
Running the cards up again. The saving assumes the paid-off cards carry no new balances.
Ignoring how you pay now. If each payment would stop when its debt is cleared, the debts take 56 months and 8,488.12 of interest, and the loan saves 2,905.99 instead.
Treating a balance-transfer offer like a loan. A promotional rate changes when the promotion ends, so it needs its own comparison.
All rates are held fixed, which suits fixed-rate loans and cards with steady APRs. Check the lender's actual fees and terms before relying on the saving.
What to enter
One debt per line: an optional name, then balance, rate and monthly payment, as in Credit card, 8500, 23.99, 255. Leave out thousands separators.
Each payment must be more than that debt's first month of interest, or the balance never falls.
The origination fee is a percentage of the loan amount. For a specific loan offer, enter its amount: any shortfall is cash you add at closing, and any surplus is cash back.
Checked against: Calculator.net debt consolidation calculator, published output for its defaults (fetched 2026-09-26): 543.44 a month, 7,606.15 interest, 59 months, APR 18.92% vs 13.25%, 250 upfront
48-month loan at 11.99%, 5% fee from the loan
Debts
Credit card, 8500, 23.99, 255
Store card, 2400, 29.99, 95
Personal loan, 6000…
Roll over freed payments
yes
Loan interest rate
11.99%
Loan term
48 months
Origination fee
5%
Fee paid
Out of the loan
Saved by consolidating
2,414.03
Loan payment
468.38
Loan amount
17,789.47
Origination fee
889.47
Months to clear current debts
45
Interest on current debts
7,996.16
Loan APR including the fee
14.77%
Combined APR of current debts
22.09%
Break-even loan rate
17.58%
Checked against: Month-by-month simulation of the debts with rollover, annuity formula for the loan, bisection for the APRs and break-even rate
Payments stop as each debt is cleared
Debts
Credit card, 8500, 23.99, 255
Store card, 2400, 29.99, 95
Personal loan, 6000…
Roll over freed payments
no
Loan interest rate
11.99%
Loan term
48 months
Origination fee
5%
Fee paid
Out of the loan
Months to clear current debts
56
Interest on current debts
8,488.12
Saved by consolidating
2,905.99
Checked against: Month-by-month simulation without rollover
Fee paid in cash
Debts
Credit card, 8500, 23.99, 255
Store card, 2400, 29.99, 95
Personal loan, 6000…
Roll over freed payments
yes
Loan interest rate
11.99%
Loan term
48 months
Origination fee
5%
Fee paid
In cash
Loan amount
16,900.00
Origination fee
845.00
Cash you add at closing
845.00
Loan payment
444.96
Saved by consolidating
2,693.14
Loan APR including the fee
14.77%
Checked against: Loan equals the 16,900 of debts, 5% fee added as cash, annuity payment at 11.99%/12 over 48 months
Questions
Is debt consolidation worth it?
Only if the loan's interest and fees come to less than the interest you would pay on the debts at your current payments. The three default debts, 16,900 in all, cost 7,996.16 of interest over 45 months. A 48-month loan at 11.99% with a 5% fee costs 4,692.66 of interest plus 889.47 of fee, saving 2,414.03 and lowering the payment by 91.62 a month.
Does a longer consolidation loan save more money?
No. A longer term lowers the payment but adds interest. For the default debts at 11.99% with a 5% fee, 36 months costs 590.78 a month and saves 3,628.08; 48 months costs 468.38 and saves 2,414.03; 60 months costs 395.63 and saves 1,158.53; 72 months costs 347.70 and loses 137.89. The CFPB warns that paying over a longer time could mean paying a lot more overall.
How does an origination fee change the cost of a consolidation loan?
It raises the amount you borrow and the APR. To receive 16,900 when a 5% fee is taken from the loan, you borrow 16,900 ÷ 0.95 = 17,789.47, and the APR rises from 11.99% to 14.77% because the fee counts as a prepaid finance charge. With no fee the default loan saves 3,538.14; with 5% it saves 2,414.03; with 8% it saves 1,680.92.
What is the break-even interest rate for debt consolidation?
The loan rate at which consolidating costs exactly what keeping the debts would. Below it you save; above it you lose. For the default debts with a 5% fee, the break-even rate is 23.32% for a 36-month loan, 17.58% for 48 months, 14.11% for 60 months and 11.78% for 72 months, which is why the 72-month loan at 11.99% costs more.
Why is my combined APR different from the average of my rates?
The combined APR is the single rate that turns your actual payment stream into the total you owe, so it weights each debt by how long its balance stays unpaid. The default debts carry 23.99%, 29.99% and 14.5%, a balance-weighted average of 21.47%; paid at 560 a month with payments moving to the highest rate, they behave like one loan at 22.09%. Compare that figure with the loan's APR including fees.
For planning only. Lenders, tax authorities and markets apply their own rounding, fees and rules; confirm figures with them before you commit.
Checked against references
This calculator includes 6 worked examples with independently sourced answers. They run in the test suite, and you can run them here too.
Put this calculator on your site
Paste this where you want the calculator to appear. It is free to use, it stays in step with corrections made here, and the credit line below it links back so your readers can find the full version.