🔥 How to Retire Starting with Just $1,000 (Using a Coffee a Day Machine Strategy)

by | Jul 9, 2025 | FIRE Engine, Misc

🔥 How to Retire Starting with Just $1,000 (Using a Coffee a Day Machine Strategy)

Let’s be real for a minute.

Most people think retiring takes hundreds of thousands of dollars, risky day trades, or striking it big with crypto.

That’s nonsense.

Here’s what’s actually true:

  • ✅ You can start with just $1,000
  • ✅ You can earn a conservative 1.5% per week (not moonshot options gambles, just boring consistent premiums)
  • ✅ You can reinvest every penny back into your machine

But let’s remove the fantasy compounding and show what really happens with covered calls.

⚙️ Here’s How It Breaks Down – Real Machine Math

💡 Starting Point

  • $1,000 starting balance
  • Stock at $10/share = 100 shares = 1 contract

💡 Weekly Premiums

  • You earn ~$15/week (1.5% of $1,000)

🔢 When Do You Double?

Unlike pure compounding (where your money doubles in ~48 weeks if reinvested fractionally), in covered calls:

  • ✅ You only earn premiums on full contract blocks (100 shares).
  • ✅ You stack premiums as cash until you can buy another 100 shares. Then your income doubles.

⚠️ Example Without Contributions

Weeks Stack Contracts Weekly Income
0 $0 1 $15
67 ~$1,000 2 $30

➡️ It takes ~67 weeks (about 1 year and 3 months) to double income from premiums alone, assuming no price changes or contributions.

☕️ Now What Happens If You Add Just Coffee Money?

✅ $5/day = $25/week extra added.

Now your stack builds like this:

  • Weekly build: $15 premium + $25 contribution = $40/week growth

✅ Time to your next $1,000 (second contract):

  • $1,000 ÷ $40/week ≈ 25 weeks (~6 months)

🚀 Here’s How That Compounds in Real Machine Steps

💡 6 months in:

  • You now have 2 contracts earning $30/week.

💡 Next contract (3rd):

  • Weekly build: $30 premium + $25 contribution = $55/week
  • $1,000 ÷ $55/week ≈ 18 weeks (~4.5 months)

💡 Next contract (4th):

  • Weekly build: $45 premium + $25 = $70/week
  • $1,000 ÷ $70/week ≈ 14 weeks (~3.5 months)

💡 Next contract (5th):

  • Weekly build: $60 premium + $25 = $85/week
  • $1,000 ÷ $85/week ≈ 12 weeks (~3 months)

⚙️ Stacking Summary

  • ✔ Month 0: 1 contract ($15/week)
  • ✔ Month 6: 2 contracts ($30/week)
  • ✔ Month 10.5: 3 contracts ($45/week)
  • ✔ Month 14: 4 contracts ($60/week)
  • ✔ Month 17: 5 contracts ($75/week)
  • ✔ Month 20: 6 contracts ($90/week)
  • ✔ Month 22.5: 7 contracts ($105/week)
  • ✔ Month 24.5: 8 contracts ($120/week)

🔥 At The End of 2 Years

✅ You’re earning ~$120/week x 4 = ~$480/month purely from premiums.

✅ Your snowball is moving faster every month as each new contract accelerates stacking toward the next.

⚠️ Real Operator Reality Check

✅ 2 years in, you’re not at full retirement income yet – but your machine is a fast-rolling snowball.

✅ By year 4-5, with this acceleration, you’re pushing $400-$500/week ($1,600-$2,000/month).

And this is without risky bets or moonshot trades – just:

  • ✔ Covered calls
  • ✔ Steady reinvestment
  • ✔ Small daily contributions (your “coffee money”)

🚀 The Bottom Line

✅ You don’t need a lot to start.

✅ You don’t need risky bets.

✅ You need a machine that compounds in real operational steps, not fantasy finance charts.

If you can:

  • Earn 1.5% per week (conservative)
  • Reinvest every premium
  • Add just “a coffee a day”

You will build retirement-level income in a few short years, with each week accelerating the climb.

That’s not a dream. That’s disciplined, practical math – and math doesn’t care about your feelings. It just works.

⚙️ Your Next Move

✅ Start building your machine.

✅ Stay consistent.

✅ Watch your snowball grow from coffee money to freedom money.

Because at the end of the day, it’s not about how much you start with – it’s about how relentlessly you grow it.

👉 Want to Dive Deeper Into How I Run This Machine?

I wrote a full breakdown for beginners on my blog. Check it out here:

🔗 Make Your Own Machine – Part 1: What Even Is a Stock?

🎁 Ready to Start Building Right Now?

Grow wealth. Stack shares. Collect premium. And hey – grab some free stocks and free money while you’re at it.

👉 Start your own Robinhood account here.

No pressure. But if you’re gonna play the game, you might as well start with a little house money.

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

by | Jul 9, 2025 | 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.

🎤 Make Your Own Machine Part 13: How to Deal With Doubters (And Why Most People Stay Broke)

by | Jul 7, 2025 | FIRE Engine

🎤 Make Your Own Machine Part 13: How to Deal With Doubters (And Why Most People Stay Broke)

By now, you’ve:

  • Bought real stock
  • Collected real money
  • Rolled a few calls
  • Hit 200 shares or more

And now you’re feeling good. Confident. Capable.

Then someone comes along and hits you with the classic:

“Wait… you’re doing what now? That sounds risky.”
“I don’t know, man, I’d rather just put my money in an index fund.”
“You should talk to my cousin, he does crypto day trading.”

Listen closely:

You’re going to sound crazy to people who don’t understand slow, boring wealth.

And that’s okay.

🤡 Why Most People Stay Broke

Let’s be real — most people:

  • Chase hype
  • Don’t understand risk
  • Only talk about gains (never losses)
  • Spend everything they earn
  • Avoid anything that takes more than 5 minutes to explain

Covered calls?
Cash-secured puts?
Reinvesting premiums week after week?

That’s not sexy. That’s not flashy.

It’s just… profitable.

But since it doesn’t come with neon charts and adrenaline, they’ll never get it.

😎 What You’re Doing Is Rare

  • You’re stacking slow gains
  • You’re avoiding dumb trades
  • You’re reinvesting instead of spending
  • You’re turning ownership into income

Most people buy a stock, pray it goes up, and call it investing.
You? You’re running a system.

That’s why they won’t understand.
And that’s why you’ll eventually outpace them.

🧠 How to Handle the Doubters

  1. Smile and nod.
    You don’t need to convince them. Just keep stacking.
  2. Track your progress.
    Show yourself that it’s working. That’s all the proof you need.
  3. Know your why.
    You’re not doing this to impress strangers — you’re doing it to build freedom.
  4. Stay boring.
    The FIRE Engine isn’t supposed to be exciting. It’s supposed to work.

Let them chase hype. Let them trade options they don’t understand.
Let them roll their eyes while you roll your contracts.

🧠 Bottom Line

Boring wealth beats flashy failure. Every time.

The FIRE Engine is simple. Consistent. Predictable.
That’s exactly why most people ignore it…
…and exactly why it works.

In the next post, we’ll talk about how to automate your system so this strategy doesn’t become a second job.

👉 Up Next: [Post 14: How to Automate the FIRE Engine (So You’re Not Babysitting It All Week)]
Want to see boring wealth in action? Check out the FIRE Engine blog.

July 4th, 1776 – The Day They Signed Their Death Warrants

July 4th, 1776 – The Day They Signed Their Death Warrants

by | Jul 4, 2025 | Dispatches, Historical Perspective, The Outlaw Faith, The Outlaw Files

📜 July 4th, 1776 – The Day They Signed Their Death Warrants

Imagine it is the morning of July 4th, 1776.

Inside the Pennsylvania State House, the dawn light pushes through tall windows, catching the drifting dust of restless nights. The room smells of sweat, wax, ink — and history not yet made.

Yesterday, they decided. Today, they commit.

One by one, the delegates gather around the table where the Declaration of Independence lies spread. Its fresh ink still shines in places where Thomas Jefferson’s careful pen gave voice to a dangerous idea: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…

Each man knows the cost.

In the corner, John Hancock — the President of Congress — stands ready. He adjusts his coat. It’s said he looks the King of England in the eye — at least in his mind — when he bends to sign first. He draws his name large and bold, declaring to the Crown across the sea: You will see my name without spectacles.

Behind him, men shuffle forward. Some stand silent. Some whisper final prayers. They know they are signing not just a statement — but a sentence. If they fail, they hang. If they win, they still risk ruin.

A Pledge of Everything

Benjamin Franklin, old enough to be many delegates’ father, leans on his cane and quips:

“We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”

A thin laugh. A nod. Then the next man steps up.

Thomas Nelson Jr., a wealthy Virginian, knows that British cannon will aim for his grand house first — it’s the biggest in town. He signs anyway. Later, legend says he tells General Washington to open fire on it if needed to drive the British out.

Carter Braxton, another Virginia planter, signs though he knows his ships — his fortune — are ripe for seizure by the British navy.

Francis Lewis of New York signs. Soon after, British troops will destroy his home and capture his wife. She dies from the abuse she suffers in captivity.

These men do not sign in ignorance. They sign with eyes open. They pledge:

“Our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

To many of them, that line is not poetic — it’s prophetic. They know they could lose their lives, their lands, their families, their futures. But they also know they will not lose their honor — because for them, that word means more than wealth or breath.

After the Ink

When the last quill lifts from the parchment, silence settles over the chamber.

Outside, a few curious onlookers gather. Rumors swirl through Philadelphia’s streets: the colonies have declared independence.

Inside, the men exchange weary nods, some embrace, others simply sit back in stunned quiet. It is done.

Tomorrow, the King’s men will call them traitors. But today, they have made themselves something else entirely: founders. Patriots. Rebels before the world’s strongest empire — trusting Providence more than Parliament.

A Note for Us

Today, when we read those famous words — “We hold these truths to be self-evident…” — we read them in fireworks, cookouts, parades, and freedom’s ease.

But for them, that truth was signed in risk.

Honor was not a vague idea. It was a promise. So they staked all they had — land, wealth, reputation, blood — on an idea: That liberty is worth everything.

So when we raise our flags and light our sparklers, we should remember:
They pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor — so we might live free.

Let us live like it cost something — because it did.

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
— Final line, Declaration of Independence, July 4th, 1776

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🏗️ Make Your Own Machine Part 12: You Hit 200 Shares — Now What?

by | Jul 4, 2025 | FIRE Engine

🏗️ Make Your Own Machine Part 12: You Hit 200 Shares — Now What?

(Scaling the FIRE Engine Like a Pro)

You did it. You stacked your way to 200 shares.

Maybe you bought them with your own money.
Maybe you reinvested premium until you hit that second block of 100.
Maybe you sold a few puts, got assigned, and built your position that way.

Doesn’t matter. The result is the same:

You now own 200 shares of a stock like RUM…
Which means you can now sell 2 covered calls.

This is where things start to snowball.

🚗 The FIRE Engine Just Got a Second Gear

Let’s say:

  • You sell 1 call per week and earn $15 = $60/month
  • Now with 2 contracts? You’re earning $30/week = $120/month

That’s $1,440/year — just from premiums.
You haven’t even touched capital gains or dividend income.

And guess what? That extra premium?
It helps you buy your third set of 100 shares even faster.

📈 Why This Stage Matters

At 200 shares, you’re doing more than “trying out” the strategy —
You’re running an income machine.

Now your FIRE Engine becomes:

  • More flexible
  • More forgiving
  • More fun

🔄 You can roll one contract and leave the other untouched

💰 You can go safer with one, and riskier with the other

📊 You can test strike prices, expirations, or even other stocks

You’ve got options. Literally.

🪜 The Stacking Effect

Let’s say RUM is $7.50/share.

Share CountCalls You Can SellWeekly PremiumMonthly Income
1001$15$60
2002$30$120
3003$45$180
4004$60$240

You don’t need new capital — you just keep reinvesting and repeating.

It’s slow. It’s boring. It’s powerful.

🧠 But Don’t Get Cocky

At this stage, it’s tempting to:

  • Chase riskier stocks
  • Reach for juicier premiums
  • Overcomplicate your strategy

Don’t.

Stick with what works:

  • Own good companies
  • Sell reasonable strikes
  • Reinvest premium
  • Sleep well at night

Let the engine do its job.

🧠 Bottom Line

Hitting 200 shares isn’t the finish line — it’s the launchpad.
From here on, you’re stacking income faster, rolling smarter, and leveling up your financial momentum.

This is where the FIRE Engine shifts from “interesting” to life-changing — if you stay consistent.

👉 Up Next: [Post 13: How to Deal With Doubters (And Why Most People Stay Broke)]
Want to watch my stack grow week by week? Follow the FIRE Engine blog here.