Take Control of Your Debt With These Free Tools

"Bankrate's free debt payoff calculator gives you a timetable for paying off each of your debts. You enter as many debts as you want to include, their interest rates, total loan amounts, and other details. You also enter any new income you expect to receive, such as an annual salary increase or windfall, and the amount that you can put toward your debts. The calculator then generates one payment table for each debt showing how much to pay each month until the debt is cleared."

"Bankrate prioritizes paying off the debt with the highest interest rate first. Once your first debt is paid off, the money you would have put toward it is diverted to your other monthly payments. In other words, as you eliminate debts, the monthly payments on your other debts increase until they, too, are paid off."

"Bankrate's calculator works for people who have multiple debts, and the total monthly minimum payments are within their financial reach. If that's you, then you'll get a crystal clear plan-with a timeline-for getting rid of all your debts."

"This calculator assumes that paying off your debts by clearing the one with the highest interest rate first is in your best interest. That's not true for everyone. You might have other options, such as consolidating credit card debt to a new card with a 0 percent introductory rate or filing for bankruptcy. Bankrate also doesn't take into account other personal finance concerns, li"

Budgeting and personal finance apps track income and spending and may include debt calculators. Some calculators provide a specific payoff method, while others act as simulators that show how total paid changes when monthly payments increase. Bankrate’s free debt payoff calculator creates a timetable for each debt by entering loan amounts, interest rates, and details like expected new income and the amount available for debt payments. It prioritizes paying off the highest interest rate debt first, then redirects the freed monthly payment to other debts, increasing payments until all are cleared. It fits people with multiple debts whose minimum payments are affordable, but it assumes highest-interest-first is always best and may not reflect alternatives like 0% balance transfers or bankruptcy.

Read at WIRED