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Set up billing alarm on AWS

Published: November 22, 2020 (Updated: Nov 22, 2020)
#AWS #CloudWatch #SNS

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Never Get Surprised by Your AWS Bill Again: Setting Up CloudWatch Billing Alerts

Introduction: Take Control of Your Cloud Costs

Welcome back to Darren’s Tech Tutorials!

If you use Amazon Web Services (AWS), you know how powerful the platform is. But you also know that feeling of dread when the end of the month approaches and you worry about unexpected charges. Did you forget to shut down that test server? Is that Lambda function looping out of control?

The good news is that you don’t have to live in fear! AWS provides a simple, free, and incredibly effective tool to manage this risk: CloudWatch Billing Alerts.

In this guide, we’ll walk through the exact steps demonstrated in the video to set up a proactive alert system that notifies you the moment your estimated charges exceed a set threshold. Give yourself the peace of mind you deserve and take back control of your cloud spending!

Step 0: The Critical N. Virginia Requirement

Before we dive into creating the alarm, there is one crucial step you must complete. AWS billing metrics are considered a global service, but the platform requires you to set the alarm within a specific region: N. Virginia (us-east-1).

Even if all your resources (EC2, S3, etc.) are running in another region (like Oregon or Sydney), you must perform the following steps while logged into the N. Virginia console.

Action Checklist:

  1. Log into your AWS Management Console.
  2. Check your Region: Look at the top right of the console. If it does not say N. Virginia (us-east-1), click the dropdown menu and switch to that region now.

Setting Up Your CloudWatch Billing Alert

Once you are securely logged into the N. Virginia region, we are ready to create the billing alarm using CloudWatch.

Step 1: Navigate to AWS CloudWatch

In the AWS console search bar, type CloudWatch and select the service. CloudWatch is AWS’s monitoring and observability service, where all metrics and logs converge.

  1. In the left-hand navigation panel of the CloudWatch dashboard, click Alarms.
  2. Click the orange button labeled Create Alarm.

Step 2: Select the Billing Metric

Now we need to tell CloudWatch what data we want to monitor. Since you are in the correct region (N. Virginia), the billing data will be accessible.

  1. Click Select metric.
  2. Under “Browse,” find and click the Billing namespace (it will likely be listed under AWS/Billing).
  3. Select the EstimatedCharges metric. This is the only metric you need for cost control.
  4. Under the statistic setting, ensure you select Maximum and set the period to 6 Hours. (This provides a good balance between responsiveness and avoiding momentary spikes.)
  5. Click Select metric at the bottom right.

Step 3: Configure the Threshold

This is where you define the dollar amount that triggers the alert. Choose a threshold that gives you enough lead time to investigate potential overspending before it becomes a real problem.

  1. Under Details, ensure the Threshold Type is set to Static.
  2. Under Define the threshold value, keep the condition set to Greater/Equal (>=).
  3. In the value box, enter your desired dollar amount (e.g., 25.00 for a $25 threshold).

Pro Tip: For maximum control, you might want to set multiple alarms: a low-level alert ($10) for early warnings, and a high-level alert ($50) for immediate action.

Step 4: Configure Notifications (Action)

An alarm is useless if no one hears it! We use Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS) to deliver the alert when the threshold is crossed.

  1. Under Configure actions, ensure the Alarm state trigger is set to In alarm.
  2. Select Select an SNS topic.
  3. If you have an existing SNS topic: Choose it from the dropdown.
  4. If you are creating a new topic (recommended): Select Create new topic.
    • Give your new topic a name (e.g., AWS_Billing_Alert_Topic).
    • Enter the email addresses you want the notification sent to (your primary email, plus any team members who manage billing).
    • Click Create topic. (Note: You must confirm the subscription link sent to these emails before the alarm is active.)

Step 5: Name and Review

The final steps are simply naming your alarm so you can easily identify it later.

  1. Alarm Name: Give it a clear name, like Critical-Monthly-Billing-Threshold-$50.
  2. Alarm Description: Add a short description explaining what the alarm monitors.
  3. Click Next, review all your settings one last time, and then click Create alarm.

Congratulations! Your first AWS cost-control mechanism is now live.

Summary and Next Steps

By spending just a few minutes configuring this CloudWatch billing alert, you have dramatically reduced your risk of receiving a massive, unexpected AWS bill. You now have a robust, automated watchdog monitoring your estimated charges 24/7.

Setting up alarms is one of the foundational steps in becoming a proficient and responsible cloud user. Don’t let your technology manage your budget—you manage your technology!

If this tutorial helped you lock down your AWS costs, hit that Like button on the video, and make sure you’re subscribed to Darren’s Tech Tutorials for more clear, actionable guides. We’ll see you in the next one!