now we're addressing a tricky topic: cloud bills.

The AWS Free Tier is great for learning, but it's not unlimited and definitely not something you can "set and forget." If you're not careful, you might find an unexpected ₹500 or $10 bill.

Let's explore the hidden costs that surprise cloud learners and how to avoid them like a pro.

AWS is known for its Free Tier, which lets you use services like EC2, S3, and RDS for free for 12 months. However, "free" doesn't mean "forget."

Here’s what often goes wrong:

You leave EC2 instances running all the time
EBS volumes are not deleted after use
Data transfer exceeds the free limits
S3 versioning leads to storage bloat
You forget to set billing alarms

These issues may seem minor, but together they can quickly break your budget.

Free Tier ≠ Free Forever

👉 5 Mistakes That Can Cost You (Even on Free Tier)

1: EC2 Running Non-Stop:

The Free Tier provides 750 instance hours per month in total.
If you keep two EC2 instances running all the time, you'll use up those hours quickly.

✅ Fix: Stop or terminate instances when they are not in use.

This bill is my personal Experience😂 , I got billed of 500 INR → 5.85 USD .

2: Forgotten EBS Volumes

Terminating EC2 instances doesn't automatically remove attached EBS storage. You continue to pay for unused block storage without realizing it.

✅ Fix: Visit the EBS Volumes section and manually delete any unattached volumes.

3: Data Transfer Overages

Only 1 GB of outbound data is free each month.
Large downloads from S3 or EC2 will incur charges.

✅ Fix: Use CloudFront to cache content and reduce direct data transfer.

4: S3 Versioning Gone Wild

S3 versioning keeps every version of your files forever. This is great for backups but not for your bill.

✅ Fix: Use lifecycle rules to delete older versions after a few days.

5: No Billing Alarms

AWS doesn't notify you when you exceed the Free Tier unless you set it up to do so.

✅ Fix: Create a billing alarm using AWS Budgets + CloudWatch. Alerts set at ₹100 or $1–5 are ideal for learners.

Budgeting Tips Every Cloud Learner Should Know

🧠 Tag your resources – This makes it easier to find and remove unused ones quickly.
📊 Check your Free Tier Usage Dashboard weekly to stay updated.
⏰ Enable billing alerts to prevent unexpected costs.
🧹 Clean up all resources after each project, lab, or test to avoid unnecessary charges.

Skill of the Week: Monitor Like a Pro

Want to manage your AWS spending effectively?

➡️ Learn how to create alerts with AWS Budgets and connect them to CloudWatch.
🔗 Step-by-step tutorial

In just 5 minutes, you can set up a safeguard for your wallet.

PLUS: What Are Data Transfer Charges, Really?

Data transfer is the hidden cost in AWS.

🔄 Inbound data (into AWS) = free
🔁 Outbound data (from AWS to the internet) = chargeable

Use CloudFront to reduce S3 downloads and design apps with minimal egress in mind.

THAT’S A WRAP

The AWS Free Tier is a great place to learn, but you need to pay attention to it.

By doing simple things like stopping EC2s, deleting volumes, and setting alerts, you can keep your costs low and manageable.

Don't let an unexpected ₹700 bill stop your cloud learning progress.

That’s It For now Guys.

Hidden Expenses of Using AWS Free Tier Services😒