What is net pay?

At the end of the year, you probably receive plenty of forms that talk about your "net pay" and your "gross pay," but you may not know the difference.

Simply put, your net pay is what you take home with every paycheck. That means it excludes all the money you put toward things like your health insurance or taxes. If you have a job that pays $30,000 per year, that's not what your net pay is. Subtracting all the other contributions will help to give you a better understanding of how much you actually have available to you each month.

You can then use all of that information to craft a realistic budget for your household, which will potentially allow you to make solid moves like reduce your debt, increase your savings, and generally put yourself into a better place financially. Essentially, the more you know about all aspects of your finances, the better off you're going to be long-term.