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NawazAliShah
NawazAliShah

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If you're new to AWS, let me show you how to save your hard-earned money 💵

We all do it!

We deploy something while learning, only to discover later that it’s been running, or we have a hidden service dependency we didn’t know about, and... we get a bill.

A BILL WE DON'T WANT!

From my experience, I want to share some AWS services that can help you keep costs low, especially when learning and deploying.

AWS Free Tier
First off, make sure you are using the AWS Free Tier account and utilize AWS Free Tier resources.

Why Use It: The AWS Free Tier offers limited, free access to many AWS services for 12 months. It's a great way for beginners to explore and learn about AWS services without incurring costs, as long as you stay within the usage limits.

AWS Cost Explorer

Why Use It: AWS Cost Explorer allows you to visualize, understand, and manage your AWS costs and usage over time. It's user-friendly and beginner-friendly and helps you quickly identify your spending patterns. Most likely, we will see abnormalities because, hey, we don’t know what we don’t know.

AWS Budgets

Why Use It: With AWS Budgets, you can set up custom budgets and receive notifications when you exceed your spending thresholds. This helps you keep track of your expenses and avoid accidental overspending. There is an Important Tip about that in the end.

Trusted Advisor

Why Use It: AWS Trusted Advisor provides best practice recommendations to optimize your AWS infrastructure. It evaluates your account to identify ways to improve security, performance, and cost-efficiency, helping you avoid unnecessary costs as well.

So now, you can open up a free account, set your budget so if you happen to use any resources that are not free tier you won’t get overcharged.

PS: When setting your budget, make sure to set it in stages of 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% so that you can keep getting notifications and keep a tight track of your spending.

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