Why Is My AWS Bill So High?

Why Is My AWS Bill So High? Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them

AWS cloud consulting company JanBask often receives one recurring question from clients: “Why is my AWS bill so high?” If you’re seeing unexpected costs on your AWS invoice, you’re not alone. Many businesses—both startups and enterprises—fall into common traps that inflate their cloud expenses. In this blog, we’ll break down the most frequent mistakes and how you can fix them.

1. Not Right-Sizing Your Resources

Many AWS users spin up instances or services with default or larger configurations than they actually need. Over-provisioning compute power, storage, or memory directly leads to higher bills.

Fix:

Use AWS tools like Cost Explorer and Compute Optimizer to monitor usage and identify underutilized instances. Right-sizing can significantly reduce monthly costs.

2. Leaving Unused Resources Running

A common mistake is leaving EC2 instances, EBS volumes, or load balancers running when they’re not in use—especially in test or development environments.

Fix:

Set up automated scripts or tools like AWS Instance Scheduler to shut down resources during off-hours. Conduct monthly audits to terminate unused resources.

3. Underutilizing Reserved Instances and Savings Plans

On-demand pricing is flexible but expensive. If your workloads are predictable and long-term, you’re wasting money by not committing to Reserved Instances (RIs) or Savings Plans.

Fix:

Analyze your historical usage and buy RIs or Savings Plans to save up to 70% on long-term workloads.

4. Inefficient Data Transfer

Data transfer costs—especially between different regions or to the internet—can add up quickly and go unnoticed until billing time.

Fix:

Keep data transfers within the same region. Where possible, use Amazon CloudFront (CDN) to reduce outbound traffic costs.

5. Overlooking Storage Management

Services like Amazon S3, EBS, or Glacier offer tiered pricing. Storing all your data in standard tiers can be expensive if you're not managing lifecycle policies.

Fix:

Use lifecycle rules to automatically move old data to cheaper storage classes. Delete obsolete backups and logs regularly.

6. Complex Billing Without Monitoring

Many users don’t fully understand AWS’s billing dashboard or fail to use alerts and budgets.

Fix:

Set up AWS Budgets and CloudWatch Alarms to get notified when usage or costs exceed set thresholds.

7. Lack of Expert Guidance

Managing AWS infrastructure efficiently requires deep expertise. Businesses often end up paying more because they don’t have the right guidance on architecture, optimization, and cost control.

Fix:

This is where an experienced AWS cloud consulting company like JanBask can make a huge difference. JanBask helps businesses optimize AWS usage, design cost-effective architectures, and implement automation strategies—ensuring you pay only for what you truly need.

Final Thoughts

AWS is powerful—but without proper monitoring and optimization, costs can spiral quickly. By avoiding the above mistakes and seeking help from trusted experts like JanBask, you can gain control over your cloud spending and focus on growing your business.

Need help optimizing your AWS setup? Contact JanBask today for a free consultation and let our experts help you reduce your cloud costs intelligently.