SpendLens

Firstly, you need to become aware of what is going on in your account. You need to know things like:

• What services are my costs coming from?
• What usage types are my costs coming from?
• What instances do I have running? Am I actually utilizing the resources?

Automated Scripts

You can use the AWS Console to get this information, or you can run this script in CloudShell to help analyze and reduce your AWS bill:

• spend_lens.py
• spend_lens_policy.json

Attach the policy above to the IAM user or role you run the script with (for example your CloudShell user). This grants only the read-only permissions the script requires.

Note that while the script is read-only it makes 3 calls to the AWS Cost Explorer API, and those calls are priced at $0.01 each.

AWS Playbooks

Now that you know where your costs are coming from, run through our playbooks for each AWS service. Start with the service you’re spending the most on, then move down to maximize savings.