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AWS

Unexpected high AWS bill from EC2

The Issue

Monthly bill shows EC2 charges 5x higher than budgeted.

Root Cause

Forgotten running instances (especially in non-default regions), data transfer charges, using On-Demand when Reserved would be cheaper, or NAT Gateway data charges.

How to Fix
  1. Enable AWS Cost Explorer and look at usage by service and region
  2. Check ALL regions for running instances — use AWS Config or Trusted Advisor
  3. Set up billing alerts: Budgets console > create budget with alert at 80% of expected
  4. Stop/terminate instances not in use — stopped instances still pay for EBS storage
  5. Data transfer: traffic out of AWS costs money — check NAT Gateway charges separately
  6. For predictable workloads: switch to Reserved Instances or Savings Plans (up to 72% cheaper)
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