It can feel overwhelming to try to understand everything listed on your payslips, especially if you’ve just started earning a regular salary.

From the different codes to all the deductions, such as for your National Insurance or pension payments, it can be confusing to memorise what it all means. However, it’s important to keep an eye on it to make sure you’re not paying too much or losing out on any money.

To help, a personal finance educator named Cameron Smith has taken to his TikTok account to share his top tips on how to get on top of your finances, which includes keeping a close eye on your paycheck.

“If you’re not checking these three things when you get paid, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said at the start of the video.

He went on to share the three things you should always look out for on your paycheck to make sure you’re not losing out on any money.

Tax code

“Check if you’re paying the right amount of tax,” he said for his first point.

Your tax code will be made up of both numbers and letters. According to HMRC, most people will have the tax code 1257L, which refers to people who have one job or pension.

It’s important to note that your tax code may change for a number of reasons, such as if your start a new job or get an additional job or pension, if you get taxable state benefits, if you claim a marriage allowance or expensese that you get tax relief on, or if your State Pension amount changes.

“If your tax code isn’t 1257L and you don’t know why, I recommend speaking with your employer or contacting HMRC,” Cameron recommended.

Pension

For the second point on his list, Cameron said: “Check if you and your employer are both contributing into your pension.”

After your workplace pension has been set up, your employer must contribute if you earn over £6,240 a year, £520 a month or £120 a week. according to the HMRC. Employer contributions must be at least 3% of your wages, but they can choose to pay in more.

Some employers might even match your contributions up to a certain limit. This is as long as you have signed up or have been enrolled in the company’s pension scheme.

“Legally, if you contribute 5% of your salary, your employer has to pay in 3%. But check if your job offers an employer matched contribution, because if they do, you could be leaving free money on the table,” Cameron said.

Student loan

“Check if your student loan repayments are correct,” he urged his viewers.

When you start repaying your loan and how much you repay depends on your repayment plan. You’ll only start repaying your loan when you earn over the threshold of your repayment plan. The threshold amounts will change on 6 April every year.

You’ll repay either 9% of your income over the threshold if you’re on Plan 1, 2, 4 or 5, or 6% of your income over the threshold if you’re on a Postgraduate Loan plan.

Cameron went on to explain: “If you didn’t go to university, it shouldn’t be on there. But if you did, there’s plan one, plan two, all the way up to plan five. And each have a different repayment threshold. So make sure you’re not repaying more than you have to.