How to Find and Calculate Your Total Debt

Understanding your total debt involves recognizing all financial obligations you owe to others. This comprehensive figure provides clarity on your financial position, which is useful for budgeting, financial planning, and making informed decisions about future borrowing.

Identifying Debt Categories

Debt can broadly be categorized into two main types: secured and unsecured. Secured debts are those tied to a specific asset that can be repossessed by the lender if payments are not made. A common example is a mortgage, where the loan is secured by the home itself, or an auto loan, where the vehicle serves as collateral. These debts typically involve lower interest rates due to the reduced risk for the lender.

Unsecured debts, conversely, are not backed by any collateral. Credit card balances, personal loans, student loans, and medical bills are all forms of unsecured debt. These types of obligations often carry higher interest rates to compensate lenders for the increased risk involved.

Beyond these primary distinctions, other forms of debt can also contribute to a person’s total financial obligations. For instance, payday loans, often short-term, high-interest advances, or tax liabilities owed to government entities, represent additional categories of debt. Even outstanding utility bills or past-due subscriptions can accumulate and form part of one’s overall debt burden.

Locating Debt Information

To accurately determine your total debt, gathering specific information about each obligation is necessary. A primary resource for identifying most debts is your credit report. You are legally entitled to a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months from each of the three major nationwide credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. These reports can be accessed through the official, federally authorized website, AnnualCreditReport.com.

Credit reports detail your borrowing history, including outstanding balances, account numbers, and the lenders you owe. You can obtain these reports online, or request them by phone or mail. Regularly reviewing these reports can help you identify all reported debts and check for any inaccuracies.

In addition to credit reports, reviewing recent monthly statements from your credit card companies, banks, and other lenders provides current balance information. Many financial institutions also offer online portals where you can log in to view your account details, including outstanding loan principal amounts and payment histories. If you are missing statements or cannot access online accounts, directly contacting your lenders can provide the necessary balance information and account details.

Compiling and Calculating Total Debt

Once you have gathered all relevant debt information, the next step involves systematically compiling these figures. Creating a detailed list of each debt is an effective method for organization. This list should include the name of the lender, the type of debt, and the precise outstanding balance as of a specific date.

You can use a simple spreadsheet, a dedicated notebook, or even a digital financial management tool to record these details. For instance, list your mortgage balance, all credit card balances, any auto loan amounts, and the current principal for student loans.

After listing each individual debt with its current outstanding balance, the final step is to sum all these amounts. It is advisable to review the entire list and the calculated sum for accuracy and completeness, ensuring no obligation has been overlooked and all balances are current.