Start from what you can pay, not what you can get.
Every lender asks how much you want. Almost nobody thinks in those terms — people think “I can manage about two hundred a month.” This works in that direction, and shows what stretching the term to reach a bigger number actually costs.
StraightSum · Educational estimate
How much can I borrow?
| Monthly payment | $200.00 |
| Assumed APR | 36% |
| Supports (24 months) | $3,387 |
Generated
Estimate for educational use. Not an offer of credit and not financial advice. StraightSum is not a lender. Verify all figures against the lender's written Truth in Lending disclosure before signing.
What can you afford?
Be conservative. A figure that works in an ordinary month but not in a difficult one is not a figure you can manage.
Raise this and the same payment buys considerably less. That is the clearest way to see what a rate actually costs you.
$200.00 a month, over 24 months, supports about
$3,387
at 36% APR, with no origination fee. Total repaid: $4,800.00
| Term | You could borrow | Total repaid | Interest | Interest as % of loan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 mo | $1,083 | $1,200.00 | $116.56 | 11% |
| 12 mo | $1,991 | $2,400.00 | $409.20 | 21% |
| 18 mo | $2,751 | $3,600.01 | $849.31 | 31% |
| 24 mo | $3,387 | $4,800.00 | $1,412.89 | 42% |
| 36 mo | $4,366 | $7,199.95 | $2,833.50 | 65% |
| 48 mo | $5,053 | $9,599.94 | $4,546.60 | 90% |
Stretching from 6 to 48 months lets you borrow $3,970 more and costs $4,430.04 extra in interest. The monthly payment does not change — that is the whole appeal, and the whole trap. A longer term is not a discount; it is the same payment for longer, buying more principal at a price that only appears in the total.
Educational estimate, not an offer. Figures assume no origination fee — add one and the amount you actually receive falls while the payment stays the same. Whether a lender approves you depends on underwriting, your credit file, and your state, none of which this calculator can know.
What common payments support.
At 36% APR over 24 months, with no origination fee. Select any row to load it into the calculator and adjust.
| Monthly payment | Supports roughly | |
|---|---|---|
| $50/mo | $847 | Adjust → |
| $75/mo | $1,270 | Adjust → |
| $100/mo | $1,694 | Adjust → |
| $125/mo | $2,117 | Adjust → |
| $150/mo | $2,540 | Adjust → |
| $200/mo | $3,387 | Adjust → |
| $250/mo | $4,234 | Adjust → |
| $300/mo | $5,081 | Adjust → |
| $400/mo | $6,774 | Adjust → |
| $500/mo | $8,468 | Adjust → |
Illustrative arithmetic at a representative rate. Not offers. Your actual rate depends on the lender, your credit history, and your state — and a lower rate means the same payment supports considerably more.
A ceiling is not a target.
This calculator tells you the most you could carry. That is a different question from how much you should borrow, and confusing the two is the most common avoidable expense in the whole exercise.
Borrow the smallest amount that solves the problem in front of you. Every extra dollar carries interest for the entire term, and an approved maximum reflects a lender's judgement about what you will probably repay — not a judgement that repaying it will leave you room to live. Those are not the same assessment, and only one of them is yours to make.
How it is calculated
P = M · (1 − (1 + r)⁻ⁿ) ÷ r
Where M is the monthly payment, r the monthly rate (APR ÷ 12), and n the number of payments. This is the standard amortization formula rearranged to solve for principal rather than payment — the same arithmetic every other calculator on this site uses, run backwards.
The income mode adds one step: it derives your available payment from a debt-to-income ceiling first. Gross monthly income multiplied by the ceiling, minus existing debt payments, gives the headroom — and that headroom becomes M above.
Two things it cannot tell you
Whether a lender will approve you
That depends on underwriting, verification, your credit file, and your state. Nobody can predict it honestly before a lender looks — and anyone claiming to is describing a fraud pattern rather than a product.
What rate you would be offered
The APR here is an assumption you set. Raise it and watch the supported amount fall — that sensitivity is the most useful thing on this page, because it shows what a rate costs in terms of what you can actually buy with it.
Questions about affordability
How much loan can I afford on my income?
The conventional test is debt-to-income: total monthly debt payments, including the new one, should stay at or below 36% of gross monthly income. On $3,000 gross with $700 of existing payments, that leaves roughly $380 a month of headroom — which at 36% APR over 24 months supports about $6,400. Lenders frequently approve above that ceiling, so treat it as a limit you set rather than one they enforce.
What size loan does a $200 monthly payment support?
It depends entirely on the rate and the term. At 36% APR, $200 a month supports about $1,991 over twelve months, $3,387 over twenty-four, and $5,053 over forty-eight. The longer term buys more principal at the same monthly cost — and considerably more interest, which is the part the payment figure hides.
Should I borrow the maximum I can afford?
No, and the distinction is worth being clear about: what you can afford is a ceiling, not a target. Borrow the smallest amount that solves the problem in front of you. Every additional dollar carries interest for the whole term, and an approved maximum is a lender's assessment of what you will probably repay — not a statement that repaying it will be comfortable.
Why does a longer term let me borrow more for the same payment?
Because the payment is spread over more months, so more of the total goes to principal in aggregate. The trade is that you pay interest for longer. Doubling the term at the same monthly figure typically buys somewhere between 60% and 80% more principal while more than doubling the interest — the calculator above shows the exact numbers for your inputs, in dollars.
Does this calculator account for fees?
It assumes no origination fee, which makes it a clean read on the payment-to-amount relationship. A fee does not change the payment; it reduces what actually reaches your account. Borrow $5,000 with a 5% fee and you receive $4,750 while repaying on the full $5,000 — so if you need a specific sum, use the total cost calculator to work out what principal to request.
What if my debt-to-income ratio leaves no room?
Then a new payment is likely to make things harder rather than easier, whatever a lender decides. Three things worth trying first, none of which pays us anything: ask whoever you owe to arrange a payment plan — utility and medical providers grant them routinely, and far more readily before a due date than after; check whether a credit union will lend at a Payday Alternative Loan rate, capped at 28% APR by federal rule; and contact an NFCC-affiliated nonprofit counsellor, whose initial consultation is generally free and who can often renegotiate existing debts.
Related tools
If the numbers do not leave room: try a credit union Payday Alternative Loan, capped at 28% APR by federal rule; ask whoever you owe about a payment plan before the due date; check whether your payroll provider offers earned-wage access; or speak to an NFCC-affiliated nonprofit counsellor. None of these pays us a referral fee, which is exactly why they are listed here.
Calculators and guides on this site are educational estimates, not offers of credit and not financial, legal, tax, or credit advice. Actual terms depend on the lender, your state, verification, underwriting, and applicable law. StraightSum is not a lender, loan broker, or credit services organization. We do not make credit decisions, issue funds, set rates or fees, guarantee approval, or service loan accounts.