Budgets in AWS
? What is AWS Budgets?
AWS Budgets lets you:
Track your AWS costs and usage
Set custom budgets
Receive alerts when your usage or spending exceeds (or is forecasted to exceed) a set threshold
It's a proactive way to avoid unexpected bills.
? Types of AWS Budgets
| Budget Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Cost Budget | Tracks your AWS spend (actual and forecasted). Example: Alert if monthly cost > $50 |
| Usage Budget | Tracks the usage of specific services (e.g., EC2 hours, S3 GB stored) |
| Reservation Budget | Tracks costs of reserved instances (RIs) or Savings Plans |
| Savings Plans Budget | Monitors how much you're saving with Savings Plans |
?? How to Create a Budget in AWS
Go to the AWS Budgets Console
Click “Create a budget”
Choose a budget type (Cost, Usage, etc.)
Define:
Time period (Monthly, Quarterly, etc.)
Budget amount
Services or linked accounts to track
Set up alerts:
Choose when to trigger alerts (e.g., 80% of budget)
Add email addresses for notifications
? Example Budget Scenario
You want to limit your AWS spending to $100/month:
Budget type: Cost Budget
Period: Monthly
Amount: $100
Alert: Send an email at 80% ($80) and 100% ($100)
Now, when your account spends more than $80, you’ll get an email — so you can take action before it hits $100.
? Tips for Using Budgets Effectively
Use tags to track budgets by project, team, or environment (e.g., "dev", "prod").
Use forecasted costs to get early alerts even before the actual cost hits.
Combine Cost Explorer + Budgets to analyze and reduce unexpected charges.
