I recently started checking my payslip more closely and noticed that my take-home salary is quite a bit lower than what I expected based on my annual salary.

I understand income tax is deducted, but there are also other things like national insurance and pension contributions, and it’s honestly a bit confusing how everything adds up.

I tried to get a clearer idea by breaking things down and using a tool to calculate PAYE deductions on my salary, which actually helped me understand where the money is going.

Still, I’m curious if this is normal or if I might be missing something. Does anyone else feel the same or have a simple way to understand PAYE better?