Unlike the packed hearings in which former Enron employees cried while the company’s executives and accountants passed the buck, there wasn’t much media attention when the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs took testimony on financial literacy.

And yet those Banking Committee hearings might lead to some of the best things that come out of this Enron mess. Maybe, just maybe, financial literacy will become a priority for all of us.

“Financial literacy can empower consumers to be better shoppers, allowing them to obtain goods and services at lower cost,” Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan testified.

“In particular, it has been my experience that competency in mathematics both numerical manipulation and in understanding its conceptual foundations enhances a person’s ability to handle the more ambiguous and qualitative relationships that dominate our day-to-day financial decision-making.”

In the world of personal finance, it’s all about “calculation, calculation, calculation.” Many of us have to stop shrinking from math like children shrink from cauliflower.

As Robert Hershey points out in his new book, “All the Math You Need to Get Rich: Thinking with Numbers for Financial Success,” none of us can afford to maintain a phobia about math.

“People are … being ripped off because they don’t know how to think with numbers,” Hershey writes. “These people are constantly being gypped, losing money and missing opportunities.”

That’s why I always carry my handy, dandy calculator. I often use it to verify that when a retailer advertises a certain percentage off an item, the price tag should reflect that promise. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found errors.

Let’s say you want to buy a $50 blouse and the sale sign says you get 33 percent off. How much would the blouse cost (excluding a sales tax)?

Take 50 and multiply it by 0.33 (33 percent). You get a figure of 16.50. Subtract 16.50 from $50 and you get $33.50. That’s the sale price.

Now, I can imagine what some of you might be thinking. “Even a nincompoop could figure that out.” But many people don’t bother to do the math or can’t remember how to do it.

“People need math for their economic survival,” Hershey said. “You have to do the math yourself to be sure it was the right calculation and the arithmetic is right.”

I highly recommend Hershey’s book because he uses examples like the one above to walk you through the many different mathematical equations you’ll need to understand everything from percentages to the time value of money to compound interest.

“Through an understanding of compound interest, one can appreciate the cumulative benefit of routine saving,” Greenspan told the Senate hearing.

If you want to be sure you aren’t being taken advantage of in the financial world, get a calculator and familiarize yourself with the calculations that will help you make good financial choices.

As Hershey says, “Thinking with numbers helps you plan ahead, so you’ll have money now and money later too.”