Three paths, your balances, side by side . bEfore you talk to anyone about anything. No email, no sign-up, nothing stored.
The three-path calculator is under construction and launches with the tools section. The promise is small and firm: enter your balances, rates and minimums, and it shows what you pay over time on minimums alone, on a fixed plan, and through a settlement program, after fees. No email gate, no sign-up, and nothing you type is stored on our side.
Until it ships, the reading guide below works fine: you can run all three paths in a spreadsheet using these steps. The calculator adds convenience, not secret numbers.
Path one is minimum payments, the do-nothing number. It shows the creditor's floor, and the years and interest that ride with it. Most people are shocked here, which is exactly why the column exists.
Path two is a fixed plan: the same payment every month, aimed at the highest interest first, so you see a real end date and a real interest total. Path three is settlement, and it is the tricky one. Take the settled amount, subtract the fee, typically 15-25% of enrolled debt, then subtract account fees and late fees, then remember the 1099-C line on forgiven amounts over $600. Read every result as a range, never a quote.
If the minimum column is years of your life, the plan column is the fix: same money, better aim, no company in the middle. If a fixed plan is survivable, take it, and ask a nonprofit credit counseling agency about a flat-fee plan before you pay anyone a percentage.
If only the settlement path gets you out, you are in the real market for relief, and you owe yourself the fee math first: get the percentage, the base it applies to, the all-in dollar cost and the exit cost in writing. Also call your issuers about hardship plans. They are free, and everyone skips that step.