By BankingMyWay Staff
Mortgage rates are at their in more than 30 years. Meanwhile, consumer debt levels are at historic highs. The combination of factors may have you considering refinancing your mortgage to consolidate your debts -- but think twice before you do.

Using home equity to pay off credit card debt, either through a home equity loan or refinancing, involves trading unsecured debt for secured debt. In exchange for a lower rate, you are putting your home up as collateral. Miss a few payments, and you could lose your home.

So is it worth it? That depends on your financial situation. To see how much you'd save, check out BankingMyWay.com's Debt Consolidation Calculator. To use the calculator, enter the details of your existing debt, and the details of your current mortgage. Next, enter the interest rate and term of your new loan -- the calculator will figure out the appropriate balance based on your current debt.

Say you live in North Carolina and qualify for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage from Wells Fargo (WFC) at 4.625%. You carry $5,000 on your Capital One (COF) Standard Platinum credit card at 18.05% interest, and are two years into paying off a $100,000 30-year fixed rate mortgage at 7.5%. Provided you have enough equity in your home to refinance, you stand to save $372 a month by refinancing and paying off the balance on your credit card.

Saving $372 a month is a major boon to most budgets, but that doesn't take into account the $2,000 or more in closing costs for your new loan. And if you don't qualify for the best rates -- say, instead of the 5.375% rate from Bank of America (BAC), you qualify for a 6.5% rate -- you'd save $248 a month instead of $372.

If you truly are struggling under a heavy debt load, then securing $5,000 of debt with your home to save $248 a month may be a smart move. Just make sure you change your spending habits and don't take on more credit card debt now that you've paid them off. Otherwise you could end up right back where you started.

For more rate offers in your area, go to BankingMyWay.com and enter your ZIP code.

—For more ways to save, spend, invest and borrow, visit MainStreet.com.