The Debt Consolidation tab on the BankPricer calculator shows that number as Your True Blended Rate. This post explains what it measures, how to compare it to the rate you were quoted, and which other lines to read before you decide anything.
What the blended rate measures
The tab describes it in one sentence: "Your blended rate is what you're really paying across all of them, weighted by balance." Source: bankpricer.com/mortgage-calculator, Debt Consolidation tab, read 2026-10-30
Weighted by balance means a big debt counts for more than a small one. Each debt's rate is multiplied by its balance, the results are added up, and the total is divided by Total Debt. A large mortgage at a lower rate pulls the blended rate toward its own rate, even if a small card next to it charges far more. A large card balance pulls it the other way.
That is why the blended rate often looks different from what people expect. If most of what you owe is a first mortgage, the blended rate will sit close to that mortgage's rate, no matter how high the card rates are.
Why compare it to the new rate
The tab asks for one more rate, New Single Rate on Consolidated Loan, with the note "Use today's market rate for the loan type you'd consolidate into (conventional, FHA, VA cash-out, or HELOC)." Source: bankpricer.com/mortgage-calculator, read 2026-10-30 Type the rate from your own quote there.
The tab figures the Consolidated Payment on your Total Debt at that one new rate over the Consolidated Loan Term you pick. Every row you leave on the list goes into the new loan, including a 1st Mortgage row. So if the new single rate is higher than your blended rate, you are agreeing to a higher rate on the whole balance, including the part that was cheaper before.
A lower payment can still show up in that case, because a longer term spreads the balance over more months. The CFPB warns about that exact pattern: "Although your monthly payment might be lower, it may be because you're paying over a longer time. This could mean that you will pay a lot more overall." Source: CFPB, "What do I need to know about consolidating my credit card debt?"
Step by step: build your own list
- Open the Debt Consolidation calculator.
- The tab opens with sample rows already filled in. Replace every sample number with your own, or remove a row with the x button if you don't have that debt.
- For each debt, pick the type from the menu. The choices are 1st Mortgage, 2nd Mortgage, HELOC, Credit Card, Auto Loan, Student Loan, Personal Loan, and Other Debt. Use + Add Another Debt for more rows. Source: bankpricer.com/mortgage-calculator, read 2026-10-30
- Type the Balance and the APR / Rate from each current statement.
- Set Payment Type. "Use actual/min payment" uses the Monthly Payment you type. "Amortized by term" figures a payment from the balance, rate, and Remaining Term (years). "Interest-only / HELOC" figures interest only.
- If a HELOC or other debt has a balloon or a reset coming, type the years left in Balloon / Reset Due.
- Read Your True Blended Rate and Total Debt before you touch the right side.
- Type your quoted rate in New Single Rate on Consolidated Loan and pick a Consolidated Loan Term.
Read the lines in order
Start with the two rates. Put Your True Blended Rate next to the new single rate you typed. If the new rate is higher, the rest of the screen is telling you what it costs to pay more on the whole balance in exchange for one payment.
Then read Current Combined Payments against Consolidated Payment. Current Combined Payments adds up one payment per row: the Monthly Payment you typed on rows set to "Use actual/min payment," and a figured payment on the others. Source: bankpricer.com/mortgage-calculator, read 2026-10-30 Monthly Savings is the gap between Current Combined Payments and Consolidated Payment.
Last, read Lifetime Interest Difference. It ends in "saved" when the new loan costs less interest over its life than your current debts would, and "more" when it costs more. This is the line the payment drop can hide. We walked through it for credit cards in lower monthly, more interest after the cards are rolled in.
Try a second pass with a shorter Consolidated Loan Term. The menu has 30, 20, 15, and 10 years. Watch how Consolidated Payment and Lifetime Interest Difference move against each other.
What the tab leaves out
The Debt Consolidation tab has no field for closing costs or loan fees. When it shows a small monthly savings, its own note tells you to "weigh against closing costs." Source: bankpricer.com/mortgage-calculator, read 2026-10-30 Get those costs from your quote.
The CFPB lists a few more things to check before any consolidation loan:
- Many low rates on consolidation loans "may be 'teaser rates' that only last for a certain time," after which the lender may raise the rate.
- Using a home equity loan to pay off credit card debt "is risky. If you don't pay back the loan, you could lose your home in foreclosure." You may also have to pay closing costs.
- "Many people don't succeed in paying off their debt by taking on more debt unless they lower their spending."
Source: CFPB, "What do I need to know about consolidating my credit card debt?"
That last point is about habits, and no calculator can model it. If the cards fill back up after you roll them into your home loan, you carry both.
If a HELOC is on the list
An interest-only HELOC row figures interest only, so its payment can look small today. When a row set to "Interest-only / HELOC" has a Balloon / Reset Due of three years or less, the tab's note changes to warn that monthly savings "may understate the real issue: whether the borrower can handle the balloon, recast, or payoff event." Source: bankpricer.com/mortgage-calculator, read 2026-10-30 Read that note before the savings line.
FAQ
If my quoted rate is below my blended rate, should I consolidate?
Not necessarily. The blended rate tells you what you pay across your current debts today. The answer also depends on the new loan's term, its closing costs, and whether the low rate lasts, since the CFPB warns that some consolidation rates are teaser rates that the lender can raise later. Source: CFPB
Should I include my first mortgage?
Include it if the loan you are quoted would replace it, as a cash-out refinance does. Leave it off if you are looking at a separate loan that only pays off the other debts. The tab folds every row on the list into the new loan, so the list should match the loan you are actually considering.
Why doesn't the tab show my exact payment?
The tab uses only what you type: balances, rates, payment types, and terms. It doesn't include taxes, insurance, fees, or closing costs. The numbers you can rely on come from a lender's written quote. A lender generally must give you a Loan Estimate within three business days of receiving your application. Source: CFPB, "What is a Loan Estimate?"
One thing to do
Pull your latest statement for every debt you owe, then type each one into the Debt Consolidation calculator and read Your True Blended Rate before you look at the payment.
Jeff Shin, Mortgage Loan Originator, NMLS #1041652. Chicago. Equal Housing Lender. Not a commitment to lend.