🤖 Make Your Own Machine Part 14: How to Automate the FIRE Engine

🤖 Post 14: How to Automate the FIRE Engine

(So You’re Not Babysitting It All Week)

Let’s be honest:

You didn’t start this strategy because you wanted another job.
You started it because you wanted freedom. Passive income. Simplicity.

So here’s the good news:

The FIRE Engine doesn’t need to be micromanaged.
You can automate 90% of it with a few simple habits.

Let’s break it down.

🗓️ Step 1: Set a Weekly Check-In Time

Pick one day a week to do your FIRE Engine maintenance.

I use Friday mornings (before options expire)
You could use Thursday nights, or Monday openings — whatever works for your rhythm

Put it on your calendar as:

🔧 FIRE Engine Check-In – 15 Minutes

You’ll use this time to:

Check if your current call is in-the-money
Decide whether to let it ride, close it, or roll it
Sell your next contract if the last one expired

That’s it. Fifteen minutes a week. Done.

📈 Step 2: Use Reminders or Automations

You can set this up however you want:

Google Calendar reminder
Phone alarm
Sticky note on your monitor
Weekly task in your to-do app

The key is to make it part of your routine — like brushing your teeth, but more profitable.

🔁 Step 3: Create a Rolling Rule of Thumb

Rolling decisions can stress people out — but they don’t have to.

Here’s a super simple rule I use:

“If the stock is close to my strike on Thursday or Friday, I look to roll. If not, I let it expire and sell a new one.”

Easy.

No panic. No emotion. No overthinking.
Just stick to the plan.

📝 Step 4: Use a Tracker (That Doesn’t Suck)

If you’ve been following along since Post 10, you know I track:

Premiums earned
Contracts sold
Share count
ROI over time

This helps me know:

When to scale up
What’s working
And how much I’m actually earning

Use my template or build your own — just make sure it doesn’t become spreadsheet jail.

🧠 Why This Works

People fail at covered calls not because the strategy is hard…
…but because they treat it like a guessing game instead of a rhythm.

When you:

Set a weekly check-in
Follow a repeatable system
Avoid emotional trades

You take 90% of the stress out of it — and leave 100% of the profit in.

🧠 Bottom Line

Covered calls shouldn’t take over your life.
Build a weekly rhythm. Automate what you can.
Let the FIRE Engine do the heavy lifting.

You’re not a trader.
You’re a builder.

👉 Up Next: [Post 15: How This Strategy Fits Into the Bigger Picture (FIRE, Freedom & Long-Term Wealth)]
Want to see what my weekly check-ins look like? Follow the FIRE Engine blog.