Do you need to calculate debt reduction benefits?

You don't need an loan officer to help you calculate debt reduction benefits from a debt consolidation loan. If you have a little understanding of the terms you can use online consolidation calculator.

Debt Consolidation Calculators

Visit www.bankrate.com. Try to use the debt calculator on the site. There are many calculator similar to www.bankrate.com. Just enter your debt information and the calculator will tell you what will you pay, either as a personal loan or a home equity loan. You can compare costs for different lengths of time with the calculator.

Gather up the balance due and the interest rate for each credit card and installment loan (auto, student loans, etc.) that you are currently paying. You’ll also need to know how many months you have remaining on installment loans.

Enter credit card balances and interest rates. The calculator will figure out an approximate monthly payment, based on that info and the term you enter for the consolidation loan.

Input your info for installment loans filling in the amount you owe, monthly payment amount, and how many months are left on the loan. You don’t need to fill in the interest rate for installment loans, since the payment amount and loan term have already been determined.

Fill in the information for the loan you are considering, including interest rate, term and upfront costs.

For home equity loans, fill in points if you are paying any, the savings rate that you would have been paid if you kept your closing costs in a savings account. This is likely to only be about 2% or less at present. You can even input your income tax rate and the calculator will factor in tax savings.

Click the calculate button, and see what your payment would be.

Try various terms and interest rates to decide what interest rate or what term you would have to get to make the loan feasible for you. The benefit of doing this for yourself is that you can play with variables that a loan officer may not be interested in checking out for you. You can also use the tool to compare terms and rates offered by competing lenders.