How to Calculate Annual Debt Obligations

American households that have at least one credit card have an average credit card debt of $10,700. Many people have additional debts on top of this, such as student loans, house payments and car payments. Debt can be overwhelming, especially if it feels out of control. However, with proper planning and close attention to your overall financial situation, you can manage your debt wisely, pay it down and gain control of your financial life.

Instructions

1

Gather the most recent statement from each of your creditor accounts. These include all credit-card statements, mortgage statements, student loan bills, auto loan statements, personal loan statements, finance purchase statements and any other statement for an account that you consider a debt. Many creditors allow you to access your statements online if you do not have paper copies.

2

Review the monthly minimum payment for each statement and debt account you have. The monthly minimum payment is the minimum amount you are required to pay each month.

3

Multiply the monthly minimum payment by 12 for each account. This gives you the total annual minimum amount you need to pay on each specific debt account.

4

Add all of the annual minimum payments together to get the total annual debt obligation.