Blog
Guides and notes from every app: everyday money, reading Genesis with its history, journaling, and surfing in Shonan and Chiba. Written by Joseph Suzuki‑Parker.
Daily Allowance
Budgeting by the day
- What a daily spending allowance is, and why it suits some people better than a monthly budget A daily spending allowance turns the money left after your bills into one number for today. How it works, why rolling over matters, and who it suits. Read
- How to work out your daily budget: a worked example From take-home pay to a number you can check each morning, step by step, with the arithmetic shown. All you need is a recent bank statement and a calculator. Read
- What to do on a day you overspend Going over your daily allowance happens. How to measure the damage in days, three ways to make it up, and what to change if it keeps happening. Read
- How to budget on an irregular or freelance income When pay arrives in lumps, budget from a steady figure you pay yourself and keep the rest as a buffer. A worked example, and how to set it up in Daily Allowance. Read
- How to save for a goal a little each day Turn a savings goal into a monthly and a daily amount, choose how to set the money aside, and track it in Daily Allowance's Kitty Bank. Read
- How to share a budget with a partner or family What to agree before you share a budget, how a shared daily allowance works day to day, and how to set up sharing in Daily Allowance for up to five people. Read
Strata
Reading Genesis with its history
- Adam and Eve and the garden: Genesis 2–3 in context What the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2–3 meant to its first readers: the second creation account, the garden as a sanctuary, the serpent, the tree of knowledge, and how the idea of the fall came later. Read on stratabible.app
- Cain and Abel explained: Genesis 4 in context The story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, read closely: why the offering was refused, sin crouching at the door, "Am I my brother's keeper?", the mark of Cain, and where Cain's wife came from. Read on stratabible.app
- The Tower of Babel: Genesis 11 in historical context What the Tower of Babel story in Genesis 11 meant to its first readers: Mesopotamian ziggurats, Babylon's great tower Etemenanki, the pun on Babel and confusion, and how the story closes Genesis 1–11. Read on stratabible.app
- How to read Genesis 1 in its ancient context What Genesis 1 meant to its first readers: the Babylonian exile, the Enuma Elish, the dome of the sky, the image of God, and the Sabbath. A guide to the creation account in its own world. Read on stratabible.app
- Genesis 1–11 small-group Bible study: a six-week guide A practical six-week plan for leading a small-group Bible study of Genesis 1–11: how to prepare, how to run each session, discussion questions, and how to handle the hard passages. Built on STRATA's free readings. Read on stratabible.app
- Noah's flood beside Atrahasis and Gilgamesh How the flood story in Genesis 6–9 compares with the older Mesopotamian flood stories in Atrahasis and the Epic of Gilgamesh: what they share, and what Genesis changes. Read on stratabible.app
Understory
Journaling, privately
- Journaling through grief: a gentle guide for after a loss How to journal through grief without forcing it: what to write in the early days, prompts for later, and how to keep a record of someone you've lost. Read on understoryjournal.app
- How to share your journal with your therapist, safely What to talk through before you share journal entries with a therapist, the safer ways to send them, and how Understory's expiring encrypted links work. Read on understoryjournal.app
- The venting journal: how to write it out without keeping it How to use a journal to vent safely: getting anger and frustration onto the page, deciding what to keep, and letting the rest go without it becoming part of your story. Read on understoryjournal.app
- Is your journal app reading your entries? A plain-language guide to end-to-end encryption for journals: what it protects, what it can't, and exactly what Understory sends to its AI and when. Read on understoryjournal.app
- How to start journaling and actually keep going A practical beginner's guide to journaling: how much to write, when to write, what to do on blank days, and how to come back after you've stopped. Read on understoryjournal.app
- Journaling prompts for a hard week Gentle journaling prompts for when you're exhausted, grieving or just need to vent, with ways to write when you barely have the energy to start. Read on understoryjournal.app
Surf Window
Surf guides for Shonan and Chiba, in Japanese
- 台風スウェルで湘南・千葉に波が上がる条件 同じ台風でも、波が上がるポイントと反応しないポイントがあるのはなぜか。湘南・九十九里・南房総のうねりの窓、周期、風から、台風スウェルで波が上がる条件を整理します。 Read in Japanese on surfwindow.jp
- 千葉・湘南の初心者向けサーフポイント 湘南・九十九里・南房総の25ポイントから、初心者が入りやすいポイントと避けたいポイントを、海底・レベル・注意点のデータで紹介します。 Read in Japanese on surfwindow.jp
- オフショア・潮・周期の読み方 Surf Window のスコアは、サイズ・周期・風・潮をポイントごとの条件で採点したもの。オフショア、潮、周期、うねりの向きがどう点数に効くのかを、実際の計算に沿って説明します。 Read in Japanese on surfwindow.jp
- サーフィンの波のサイズの見方（ヒザ・コシ・ムネ・アタマ） 波情報の「コシ〜ハラ」「アタマオーバー」は何を表しているのか。沖のうねりの高さと周期から、Surf Window が波のサイズをどう見積もっているかを説明します。 Read in Japanese on surfwindow.jp
- 北風の日に千葉で波がいいポイント 九十九里の多くのポイントで北風はオフショアになりません。浜の向きとオフショアの関係から、飯岡や片貝など、北風の日に面がきれいになりやすい千葉のポイントを紹介します。 Read in Japanese on surfwindow.jp
- 九十九里のサーフポイントガイド（一宮〜飯岡） 飯岡、片貝、白子、一宮、志田下、太東など、九十九里の12ポイントの特徴と選び方。浜の向き、オフショア、潮、レベル、混雑をデータで比べます。 Read in Japanese on surfwindow.jp