Now let's explore the powerful tools that help you track, analyze, and control your AWS spending proactively.

AWS provides built-in tools like AWS Budgets and AWS Cost Explorer to help you monitor costs and prevent surprises.

Engagement Message

What's one challenge you might face when trying to track your cloud spending?

AWS Budgets is your early warning system. You set custom spending or usage limits and receive alerts when your costs are forecasted to exceed your budget.

Think of it like setting a spending alert on your credit card—you get notified before you overspend, not after. Most companies find that setting their first alert at 80% of budget gives them enough time to react and adjust.

Engagement Message

At what percentage of your budget would you want to receive your first alert?

AWS Cost Explorer is your analysis tool. It has an easy-to-use interface that lets you visualize, understand, and manage your AWS costs and usage over time.

You can see trends, identify the biggest cost drivers, and find spending anomalies.

Engagement Message

What spending pattern would you want to investigate first if you saw it in your account?

Cost Explorer allows you to filter and group your data. You can view costs by AWS service, by linked account, by region, or by custom tags that you define.

This granular analysis helps you understand exactly where your money is going and identify opportunities to save.

Engagement Message

How might grouping costs by project or team help your organization?

Here's how they work together: Use AWS Budgets to set an alert for a potential overspend. When you receive that alert, use AWS Cost Explorer to dive deep and understand what caused the cost increase.

This combination provides both proactive warnings and deep investigative capabilities.