🛠 Life Hit My RUMble Machine This Week (And That’s Okay)

by Ryan Rush | Jul 3, 2025 | FIRE Engine

This week, I had to make a move that I never plan for… but always prepare for.

I sold 40 shares of RUM at $8.60 to pay some bills.

💡 Why Am I Sharing This?

Because too many people on these finance pages only show you:

• Their wins
• Their green days
• Their perfect, uninterrupted growth

That’s not real life.
Real life sends you a random bill on a random Tuesday. Real life says “Hey, I need $340 right now.”

🔻 What Happened to My Machine?

Here’s the straight breakdown:

• Before the sale: I had just under 241 shares
• Sold: 40 shares @ $8.60
• After the sale: ~201 shares left

Am I sad about it? Honestly, not really.

Because this is why I build the machine in the first place.

🧠 Why I’m Not Worried

Here’s what changed:

• My snowball is slightly smaller
• My plan is exactly the same

I still have:

• ✅ 200+ shares (enough to keep running two covered calls)
• ✅ $9 call expiring July 18th
• ✅ $8 call expiring October 17th

And I still have:

• ✅ My weekly $25 deposits stacking new shares
• ✅ Premiums coming in to lower my cost basis further
• ✅ A mindset focused on building the machine, not chasing a quick win

🧾 This Is What Real Passive Income Looks Like

People think passive income is:

• Sitting on a beach
• Doing nothing
• Magically rich

But real passive income is:

✅ Building a snowball
✅ Letting it roll
✅ Using it when life demands cash
✅ Rebuilding it right after

That’s true freedom — the ability to cash out a piece of your machine without killing it entirely.

🔮 What’s Next?

Now I keep it simple:

• Continue weekly RUM buys
• Let Theta decay my open calls
• Stack premiums and shares back up to replace those 40 shares… and beyond

🏁 Final Thought

This week reminded me why I do this.

Because life will always send bills.

And I’d rather have a RUMble Engine paying them than put them on a credit card.

🎁 Want to Build Your Own RUMble Machine?

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 fancy pitch. Just the real tools I use every day to keep life paid and freedom growing.

🪙 Make Your Own Machine Part 11: What If I Don’t Have Enough for 100 Shares?

by Ryan Rush | Jul 2, 2025 | FIRE Engine

🪙 Make Your Own Machine Part 11: What If I Don’t Have Enough for 100 Shares?

(How to Use Cash-Secured Puts to Build In Like a Boss)

So maybe you’re following the FIRE Engine strategy, but you’ve hit a wall:

“I don’t have enough for 100 shares yet… Can I still play the game?”

Short answer: Yes.
Longer answer: You can get paid while you save up — and maybe even get the stock at a discount.

Let me introduce you to the cash-secured put — a covered call’s sneaky cousin.

🤔 What’s a Cash-Secured Put?

It’s a fancy way of saying:

“I’ll agree to maybe buy this stock at a lower price, but you have to pay me upfront just for being willing.”

You’re not buying anything yet. You’re getting paid to wait.

Here’s what it looks like:

• You don’t own the stock (yet)
• You want to own it — but only at a cheaper price
• You sell a put option that says:

“If the stock drops to $7, I’ll buy it — but pay me now for the privilege.”

🧮 Real Example (Clean Numbers)

Let’s say:

• RUM is trading at $7.50
• You want it at $7.00
• You sell a $7 put that expires next Friday
• Someone pays you $15 premium for it

Two outcomes:

Either way, you get paid.
And if you get assigned? Great — you just bought your stock on sale and already earned premium on day one.

💼 Why This Is Great for Beginners

• You don’t need to guess the bottom — just pick a price you’d be happy with
• You get paid to wait — better than setting a limit order for free
• You build your FIRE Engine from the ground up — one secured put at a time

And once you get assigned your first 100 shares?

You flip the strategy and start selling covered calls.

Congrats — you’re now running the full loop.

⚠️ What You Need to Know First

• You need the full cash amount on hand (hence cash-secured)
  • $7 x 100 shares = $700 required
• You must be okay buying the stock at that price
• You’re still on the hook if the stock crashes — so choose wisely

But if you pick a company like RUM that you believe in, and the price is fair?
It’s a smart way to get started while getting paid.

🧠 Bottom Line

Cash-secured puts let you earn income before you own the stock.
It’s how beginners can build a position without chasing prices or sitting on the sidelines.

In the next post, we’ll talk about what happens when you finally hit your first big goal — stacking up those 200 shares — and what it unlocks.

👉 Up Next: [Post 12: You Hit 200 Shares — Now What? Scaling the FIRE Engine]
Still stacking? Watch me do it in real time: Check out the FIRE Engine blog.

📊 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.