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By: Kim Soyung

Student loan interest can accumulate quickly, and by using a debt calculator, you can track your interest and any other personal debt you may have.  When you first apply for those hefty student loans, the last thing going through your mind are interest rates and loan repayment.  You are envisioning all the fun and good times ahead of you in your college career.  However, each day, your student loans are quietly and secretly growing larger and larger.  By the time you graduate, you realize that the majority of your loan consists of interest that has been racking up for the passed 4 or 5 years while you were doing keg stands and beer bongs, and of course some studying here and there. Once you begin the dreaded stages of repayment, you realize that you are able to write off the student loan interest that you paid the year before.  There is a certain limit, however, of how much interest you can write off.  Yes, it would be nice to write all of it off!
You do not necessarily have to use a debt calculator to calculate your student loan interest.  Really a debt calculator breaks down your positive cash flow and your negative cash flow that is being spent paying down your debt.  Debt calculators can be found online and enable you to plug in pieces of financial information so you can have an accurate figure of your current debt.  You can also create your own debt calculator in Excel.  Start by listing any debt you may have, whether it is credit card debt, student loan debt, or a mortgage or car payment.  Add up your total debt.  This will give you your negative figure.  If you would like to find out your net worth, subtract this number from your current income.  For many, your net worth will be negative.