What do my loans and cards cost me each month?
Student loan + car loan + credit card minimums, against your take-home pay. One number for the whole month — and what is left when everything is paid.
Your month, added up
Why add it all up
A student loan payment of $341 looks manageable. A car payment of $280 looks manageable. Credit card minimums of $150 look manageable. Together they are $771 a month — and that is before rent, food, and everything else. This calculator exists because nobody adds them up until the month stops working.
Enter the three required debt payments, your take-home pay, and your other monthly bills. The result is the share of your paycheck that debt eats, and the dollars left when everything is paid. If the leftover is under a few hundred dollars, the budget has no room for a flat tire or a slow month.
If the total is too high, the fixes are in order: check income-driven repayment for the student loan (RAP can cut it to as low as $10 a month), attack the highest-rate debt first with the payoff priority calculator, and think twice before adding a bigger car payment — the used EV vs hybrid vs gas comparison on our car site shows what the next car really costs.
Frequently asked questions
How do I work out my total monthly burden?
Add the required payments: student loan, car loan, and credit card minimums. That is your debt load. Then add rent, utilities, food, insurance, and everything else. What is left is your slack — the money that absorbs surprises. If the slack is near zero, the budget has no room for error.
What share of my pay should go to debt?
Lenders usually want total monthly debts at or under 36% of gross monthly income. Above 43% is high. But the percentage is not the whole story — a household with high rent can feel squeezed at 30%, while a household with low rent can be fine at 40%. The dollars left over matter as much as the ratio.
Which of the three should I shrink first?
Usually the credit card minimums, because the interest rate is the highest and the balance grows fastest if you only pay the minimum. Use the payoff priority calculator to rank all three debts before you send extra money anywhere.
My total is too high. What do I do?
The two levers are income-driven repayment for the student loan (RAP can cut the required payment to as low as $10 a month) and paying down the highest-rate debt so its minimum shrinks. Both are on this site.
Are the default numbers my numbers?
It is a starting point. Edit every number to match your real bills — the defaults are typical young-borrower figures, not yours. The calculator is only as honest as the numbers you type in.
Where to go next
Used EV vs Hybrid vs Gas Calculator
Thinking about the next car? Compare a used EV, hybrid, and gas car — purchase price plus fuel, maintenance, and insurance.
Visit →Debt Payoff Priority Calculator
Rank your student loan, credit card, and car loan and attack the most expensive one first.
Visit →Credit Card Payoff Tools
Build a card payoff plan: snowball vs avalanche, balance transfers, and how much extra to pay.
Visit →Free tools from the same family. These links open in a new tab; we earn nothing from them.