I learned this the hard way so you don't have to. Yesterday, unintended resources spiked my AWS bill. Today, I'm setting up the defenses. Here is how to set up a Zero Spend Budget in 5 minutes.
Why do you need this?
AWS operates on a "Pay as you Go" model. But sometimes, you "Go" without realizing you are "Paying." A rogue Lambda loop, a forgotten EC2 instance, or an RDS cluster can drain your wallet overnight.
Step-by-Step Guide
Go to AWS Budgets Search for "Budgets" in the console. It's free for the first 2 budgets.
Use the Template AWS provides a "Zero spend budget" template. This is perfect for Free Tier students. It triggers an alert the moment your spend exceeds $0.01.
Set Alerts Enter your email. I recommend creating a secondary "Monthly Budget" (e.g., $10) with a Forecasted alert.
Forecasted means AWS predicts you will overspend based on current usage before it happens.
My "Game Over" moment
I had an RDS instance costing ~$0.50/day running silently. A budget alert would have caught this on Day 2, saving me $15.
Conclusion: Observability isn't just about logs and errors. It's about dollars and cents.
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