Welcome to the Personal Finance King blog, which explores money, faith, work, and family. I am Barnaby King. There is also a Mrs. King (Nora) and our little royalty: daughter Pippa and son Grey. (And do they act like a prince and princess sometimes!) We live in Baltimore, MD, USA.
Nora and I met at Bates College in Maine. She says she started dating me because my name made me sound rich. I’m not sure if that’s a joke. But, if she were rich, she’d probably stay that way – some people (and maybe that’s me) call her “Nora the Fiscally Conservative & Risk Averse.” You won’t see me complaining. I find it sexy.
After graduating college (and more school for her), we got married and settled in my hometown of Baltimore. She is an Anglophile who likes to read novels and drink tea. And travel. She works in a high school.
Pippa is in 11th grade. She loves badminton and dancing and Hamilton. She is similar to her parents – a natural saver who will order water at a restaurant even when someone else is paying.
Grey is in 9th grade. He loves the Orioles and Harry Potter and playing the drums. He’d rather buy a video game – or help a homeless person – than save money for the future. We encourage and badger him to save anyway.
I am over-educated (MBA) and under-stimulated at my office desk job, so I work on this blog evenings and weekends. My financial philosophy is inextricably tied to my Christian faith. There are over 800 references to money in the bible, most of it cautionary. But it’s clear that money is not the problem, but rather the love of it (1 Timothy 6:10). As Matthew 6 says, “No one can serve two masters…You cannot serve God and money.” Yet God doesn’t want us to waste what we’ve been given either.
This blog will explore the often-fraught middle ground between being a good steward of financial resources, without lusting after them. Hopefully you can profit from some of the mistakes I’ve made along the way.
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