📊 Make Your Own Machine Part 10: How I Track My Trades and Calculate ROI (Without a Finance Degree)

by Ryan Rush | Jun 30, 2025 | FIRE Engine

📊 Make Your Own Machine Part 10: How I Track My Trades and Calculate ROI (Without a Finance Degree)

Let’s talk numbers — not Wall Street numbers.
Real-life, “what’s actually happening in my account” numbers.

Because if you’re running the FIRE Engine, you should be asking:

“How do I know if this is working?”

You don’t need a finance degree.
You don’t need 17 color-coded spreadsheets.
You just need to answer three questions:

✅ 1. How much did I spend?

✅ 2. How much have I earned back?

✅ 3. What’s my return?

Let’s keep it simple.

🧮 Step 1: Know Your Cost Basis

Your cost basis is what you paid for your shares.

If you bought:

• 100 shares of RUM at $7.50
• That’s $750 invested

That’s your starting point — your engine’s frame.

💰 Step 2: Track Your Premiums

Every time you sell a covered call, you collect premium. That’s income.

Track it weekly or monthly. You can do this:

• In a notebook
• In a simple spreadsheet
• Or in your notes app — whatever works

Example:

Now you’ve made back $44 on your $750 investment in just 3 weeks.

📈 Step 3: Calculate Your ROI

Use this simple formula:

Premium Collected ÷ Cost Basis x 100 = ROI%

In our example:

• $44 ÷ $750 = 0.0586
• Multiply by 100 = 5.86% return

That’s nearly 6% in 3 weeks — just from premiums.

Annualized? That’s huge. And we haven’t even factored in share price gains or dividends (if your stock has them).

📒 Want a Simple Spreadsheet?

I’ve got one.

Nothing fancy — just:

• Share count
• Contracts sold
• Premiums earned
• % return over time

👉 Grab the free FIRE Engine Tracker here (link to Google Sheet or future opt-in)

Or just copy the layout above and build your own. No stress.

🧠 Bottom Line

If you can count to 100 and write down a few numbers, you can track your FIRE Engine.

This isn’t high-frequency trading. It’s slow profit stacking — and the numbers tell the story.

👉 Up Next : [Post 11: What If I Don’t Have Enough for 100 Shares? (Using Cash-Secured Puts to Build In)]
Want to see how my premiums are stacking up each week? Check out the FIRE Engine blog.

🔄 Make Your Own Machine Part 9: How to Roll a Covered Call (And Why You Might Want To)

by Ryan Rush | Jun 27, 2025 | FIRE Engine

🔄 Make Your Own Machine Part 9: How to Roll a Covered Call (And Why You Might Want To)

Let’s be honest for a second.

You’ve probably been thinking:

“If this strategy really works… why don’t more people do it?”

That was my question too. And here’s the answer:

Because it’s slow, it’s boring, and it doesn’t make for exciting Instagram posts.

There’s no Lambos. No “look at my day trades” screenshots. No 10x meme gains.

Just $15 here, $20 there — every week. Quiet. Consistent. Repeatable.
But over time? It adds up. And that’s why the FIRE Engine works.

Now let’s unlock one of the most powerful tools in the strategy:

Rolling a covered call.

🔁 What Does It Mean to “Roll” a Covered Call?

Rolling is just changing your mind before the clock runs out.

It means:

• Buying back the option you already sold (before it expires)
• Selling a new one (usually with a later expiration or higher strike)

You’re extending or adjusting the trade. Not closing it. Not panicking. Just managing it like a pro.

🧠 Why Would You Roll?

1. To Avoid Getting Called Away

• Stock is getting close to your strike?
• You don’t want to lose your shares?

Roll it out to next week (or next month), and reset the strike price higher.

You keep your shares — and often get paid again to make the adjustment.

2. To Lock in More Premium

Sometimes the original option still has value, but now you see:

• The stock’s calming down
• The new week’s premium is juicy

So you buy back the old one and sell a fresh one right away — and make the difference.

Think of it like upgrading your deal mid-flight.

💸 Quick Example (Clean Numbers)

• You sold a $9 call on RUM and got $15
• Now RUM is trading at $8.90 — and you’re sweating
• You don’t want to lose your shares

So you:

• Buy back the $9 call for $5
• Sell a new $9 call for next week — and collect $17

You just:

• Avoided assignment
• Kept your shares
• Collected a net $12 more

Boom. Rolled and rewarded.

🧰 When Should You Roll?

Some simple guidelines:

• Roll if the stock is creeping up on your strike and you don’t want to lose it
• Roll if you can make more premium by resetting the timeline
• Don’t roll if the stock is far below your strike — just let it expire and collect

🤔 But Isn’t This… Complicated?

Not really.

The platforms make it easy (Robinhood has a “Roll” button).
The hard part is patience — knowing when to let things ride, and when to adjust.

And that’s exactly why most people don’t do this:

• It’s not thrilling
• It requires watching the calendar
• You don’t “win big” — you just win often

But if you’re okay with small, consistent wins stacking into something huge?
You’re already ahead of 90% of traders out there.

🧠 Bottom Line

Rolling a covered call is like hitting the “snooze” button on selling your shares — and getting paid for it.

You get to:

• Avoid assignment
• Earn more premium
• Keep control of your engine

It’s a skill. And once you learn it, it becomes second nature.

👉 Up Next: [Post 10: How I Track My Trades and Calculate ROI (Without a Finance Degree)]
Want to see real examples of when I roll my calls? Check out the weekly FIRE Engine blog.

🔄 Make Your Own Machine 8: How to Reinvest Premiums to Grow Your Share Count

by Ryan Rush | Jun 25, 2025 | FIRE Engine

🔄 Make Your Own Machine 8: How to Reinvest Premiums to Grow Your Share Count

Alright — by now you’ve:

• Bought a stock
• Sold a covered call
• Collected your first premium (🎉)
• Maybe even had shares called away and lived to tell the tale

Now it’s time to unlock the power move of this whole FIRE Engine strategy:

Use the premium to buy more shares… so you can sell even more calls… and make even more premium.

This is how you go from making $15 a week to $150+ a week — without ever adding more of your own money.

🔁 The FIRE Engine Loop

Let’s simplify this with a visual loop:

Buy 100 shares → Sell a call → Collect premium → Reinvest → Repeat

Every time you complete the loop, your income potential goes up.

Let’s break it down with clean numbers.

💵 Example: Starting With 100 Shares of RUM

• You own 100 shares of RUM at $7.50 = $750 investment
• You sell 1 covered call and earn $15 per week
• That’s $60/month

After about 12–13 weeks, guess what?

You’ve earned enough to buy 10 more shares.

Fast-forward a few months and boom — you’ve stacked up to 200 shares

Now you can sell 2 calls per week instead of 1.

$15 x 2 = $30/week → $120/month
Wait a few more months? Now you’re at 300 shares.

This is how the engine builds steam.

📈 Reinvestment = Snowball

Let’s say you’re consistent — you sell calls every week and never withdraw the premiums.

What happens?

Within a year, you can go from $15/week to $60/week or more, just by recycling premium.

And you never had to put in more capital after the first $750–$1,000.

🪙 “But What If I Only Earn $10 a Week?”

Even $10 a week is $520/year — that’s 70 more shares of a $7.50 stock. That’s almost enough to add another contract just from reinvestment.

Remember: the FIRE Engine isn’t about flashy, overnight results. It’s about consistent, compounding income.

And once your share count grows, it feeds itself.

🧠 Bottom Line

Don’t spend your premium — stack it.
Every dollar you reinvest is another step toward your next contract.
Every contract is another stream of weekly income.

This is how your engine turns into a machine.

👉 Up Next: [Post 9: How to Roll a Covered Call (And Why You Might Want To)]
Want to see how my own share count is growing? Check out the FIRE Engine blog.

📊 Make Your Own Machine Part 7: Why I Chose RUM (And What to Look for If You Pick Your Own)

by Ryan Rush | Jun 23, 2025 | FIRE Engine

📊 Make Your Own Machine Part 7: Why I Chose RUM (And What to Look for If You Pick Your Own)

You’ve learned how to buy a stock. You’ve seen how covered calls generate cash. You even know what happens if your shares get called away.

Now the big question is:

“Why RUM? And how do I know what stock to use if I want to do this myself?”

Let’s break it down.

🥃 Why I Use RUM (Rumble Inc.)

I didn’t just throw darts at a list of stocks and land on RUM. I picked it on purpose. Here’s why:

1. It’s Affordable

• RUM usually trades between $7–$10
• That means 100 shares = $700–$1,000 — super approachable for beginners
• You don’t need $10,000 to get started

2. It Pays Great Premiums

• RUM has decent implied volatility, which means the options are worth more
• Even when the stock doesn’t move much, I can pull in $10–$20 per week per contract
• That’s a solid return — especially when you’re stacking more shares over time

3. It Moves… But Not Too Wildly

• It’s not boring, but it’s not GameStop-level chaos either
• I like stocks that bounce within a range — they give me premium, but don’t usually fly past my strike price
• It’s perfect for weekly or biweekly covered calls

4. I Actually Believe in the Company

• Rumble is building an alternative to Big Tech platforms, with a focus on free speech and decentralization
• I like what they stand for — and if I’m going to build income from a stock, I’d rather it be something I support

🔎 What to Look for If You Pick Your Own Stock

If you want to try this strategy on something else, here’s what you should look for:

✅ Low Share Price (Under $20 is Ideal)

• The lower the share price, the easier it is to get 100 shares
• You can always scale into more expensive stocks later, but start small

✅ Options Available

• Not all stocks have options — make sure yours does
• Look for “options” or “trade options” in your brokerage when you pull up the stock

✅ Decent Premiums

• A good rule of thumb? Try to get $10+ per week for a $1,000 position
• If the premium is only $1 or $2, it’s probably not worth it

✅ Steady Movement

• You don’t want a flatline stock with zero action
• But you also don’t want a rocket ship that’ll blow past your strike price every time
• Look for stocks that tend to trade in a range — they’re perfect for covered calls

✅ A Company You Don’t Hate

• If you wouldn’t feel good owning the stock long-term, don’t do it
• You might have to hold it for a while if it drops — make sure it’s something you don’t mind hanging onto

🧠 Bonus Tip: Check the Options Chain

Before you commit to a stock, look at the options chain (your brokerage will show it under “Trade Options”).

Ask:

• Are there weekly options?
• Are the premiums at least $10–$20 for 100 shares?
• Are the strike prices spaced reasonably?

If so, you’ve found a candidate.

🧠 Bottom Line

I picked RUM because it’s cheap, has great premiums, steady movement, and I actually like the company.

If you want to use something else — no problem. Just make sure it checks those boxes.

In the next post, we’ll talk about how to grow this into a snowball — reinvesting premiums to build more income over time.

That’s when this goes from fun… to powerful.

👉 Up Next: [Post 8: How to Reinvest Premiums to Grow Your Share Count]
Want to see my real trades with RUM? Check out the FIRE Engine blog.