"You'll save $180 a month" is not an answer. Refinancing costs money to do, and whether it's worth it depends on how long you stay, what you're giving up, and whether you're restarting a clock you'd already run down. Here's the math that actually decides it.
Divide your total closing costs by your monthly savings. The result is the number of months before you come out ahead.
If refinancing costs $6,400 and saves $180 a month, that's roughly 36 months to break even. Stay five years and it was clearly worth it. Sell in two and you lost money — regardless of how much lower the monthly payment looked.
If you're eight years into a 30-year mortgage and refinance into a new 30-year, your payment drops partly because you just stretched 22 years of remaining balance back out over 30.
That's not automatically wrong — lower required payments can be genuinely valuable for cash flow. But you may pay more total interest over the life of the loan even at a lower rate. If the goal is actually saving money rather than freeing up monthly cash, compare against a shorter term.
A rate-and-term refinance changes your rate, your term, or both. You're not taking money out.
A cash-out refinance replaces your loan with a larger one and hands you the difference. It typically carries a higher rate than rate-and-term, and it converts equity you owned into debt you owe. There are legitimate reasons to do it. Consolidating high-interest debt can be one — but only if the underlying spending pattern that created that debt has actually changed, because you've now secured that balance against your house.
This is general educational information, not financial, legal, or tax advice. Rules and figures change, and specifics vary by lender, loan type, credit profile, and location. Verify anything that affects a decision with your servicer, lender, or a licensed professional.