Debt Consolidation
Three cards, two due dates, one overdraft: juggling balances is expensive and exhausting. Consolidation replaces several debts with one loan, one rate, and one date to remember. Done right it saves real money. Done carelessly it just rearranges the furniture, so this page shows you how to check which one you are getting.
How consolidation works
You take one new loan and use it to pay off the smaller balances the day it funds. From then on there is a single fixed payment with an end date. Cards compound against you indefinitely; an installment loan runs out. That end date is the quiet advantage: the debt stops being a permanent feature of your budget.
The mechanics matter though. The old cards must actually be paid off, and then not run back up. A consolidation loan with re-filled cards behind it is the one outcome worse than doing nothing.
The only math that matters
Add up what your current debts cost per month and roughly what they will cost in total interest on your current pace. Then price the consolidation loan the same way: monthly payment, and total repaid over the term. Compare totals, not just monthly payments. A longer term can drop the monthly number while raising the total, and that trade should be a choice you make on purpose.
Card APRs commonly sit in the twenties; Federal Reserve data has average rates on interest-bearing card accounts above 20% in recent years. If your consolidation offer prices below what your cards charge, the saving is real. Our credit card payoff calculator and loan payment calculator give you both sides of the comparison in a few minutes.
When it helps and when it does not
Consolidation helps when the balances carry high rates, when the juggling itself causes missed payments, and when your income covers the new single payment with room to spare. It does not help when the offered APR is no better than the cards, or when spending is still outrunning income, because then the loan only delays the harder conversation.
A score dented by the juggling does not rule you out. Some lenders in the network weigh income and recent history over the number itself; the bad credit loans page covers what to expect there.
Doing it through this site
Send one request for the total you need to clear, between $1,000 and $25,000, and lenders in the network respond with their own terms. Every offer shows the APR, the term, and the total repaid in writing before you sign, which is exactly what the comparison above needs. Sending the request is free, and declining an offer costs nothing.
If the balances are bigger than $25,000, a nonprofit credit counselor is worth a call before any loan; they can often negotiate rates directly with card issuers. Honest advice sometimes points away from our own product, and we would rather give you that than a loan that does not help.
See what lenders would offer you
One short request, $1,000 to $25,000, free and with no obligation to accept anything.