Clever Girl Finance

02Stop Guessing and Face Your Numbers

You cannot possibly navigate to your dream destination if you have absolutely no idea where you are starting from. For so many women, the very thought of logging into their banking app or opening a completely unread credit card statement triggers a physical stress response. Your heart races, your palms sweat, and you quickly close the browser tab, choosing blissful ignorance over mathematical reality. This is widely known as the "ostrich effect"—burying your head deeply in the sand and hoping the scary financial predators simply walk past you. However, Bola Sokunbi fiercely reminds us that ignoring your money absolutely never makes your money problems go away; it only gives those problems the dark, quiet space they need to grow into terrifying monsters. To take back your power, you must calculate your exact net worth. This might sound like a complex, intimidating term reserved for billionaires on the Forbes list, but it is actually a remarkably simple calculation. Your net worth is simply everything you own your assets minus everything you firmly owe your liabilities. That is it! Here is exactly how you can break this down in a highly approachable way: List your assets: This includes the cash sitting in your checking and savings accounts, the current value of your retirement funds, any investment accounts, and the realistic market value of significant property like your home or your car. List your liabilities: This includes your entire student loan balance, the exact payoff amount of your auto loan, your mortgage balance, and every single dollar of credit card debt you currently hold. Do the math: Subtract the total liabilities from the total assets. If that final number is negative, take a deep, calming breath. Do not panic! A negative net worth is incredibly common for young professionals, especially those carrying the heavy burden of student loans. It is absolutely not a permanent death sentence; it is simply your starting line. Sokunbi points out that knowing this exact number, even if it makes you want to hide under the covers, completely eliminates the exhausting mental energy required to constantly guess how bad your situation might be. Once you know your net worth, it is time to meticulously organize your financial life. You cannot build a wildly successful financial empire if your foundational documents are scattered across a dozen old shoeboxes, unopened mail on the kitchen counter, and forgotten digital folders. Sokunbi recommends setting up a dedicated "money date" with yourself. Pick a quiet evening, pour yourself a glass of your favorite wine or brew a comforting cup of herbal tea, light a beautifully scented candle, and play some relaxing music. Make this an enjoyable, highly anticipated ritual rather than a dreaded chore. During this dedicated money date, your core mission is to track where every single penny has gone over the last thirty days. You will likely experience a few shocking revelations. How did you possibly spend three hundred dollars on random, convenient takeout when you have a refrigerator completely full of perfectly good groceries? Why are you paying fifteen dollars a month for a streaming service you have not watched since last summer? This exercise is not designed to shame you; it is designed to awaken you. Furthermore, consolidating and simplifying your accounts can massively reduce your daily mental clutter. If you have four different checking accounts from various stages of your life, three old 401ks from previous employers floating around in the ether, and five different credit cards, you are making your life infinitely harder than it needs to be. Roll those old retirement accounts into a single IRA. Close the bank accounts you no longer actively use. Automate your essential bill payments so you never have to worry about missing a due date and getting slapped with a ridiculous late fee. By forcing yourself to stop guessing and actually facing your raw numbers, you instantly transition from being a passive, fearful passenger in your financial life to the confident, capable driver.

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