Cloud Cost Optimization Cheat Sheet

Practical strategies and tools for reducing cloud spend across compute, storage, and networking on AWS, Azure, and GCP.

2 PagesIntermediateFeb 10, 2026

AWS Cost Explorer CLI

Query cost and usage data from the command line.

bash

aws ce get-cost-and-usage \  --time-period Start=2026-06-01,End=2026-07-01 \  --granularity MONTHLY \  --metrics "UnblendedCost" \  --group-by Type=DIMENSION,Key=SERVICEaws ce get-rightsizing-recommendation \  --service AmazonEC2

Find Idle/Unattached Resources (AWS)

Identify unattached EBS volumes wasting spend.

bash

aws ec2 describe-volumes \  --filters Name=status,Values=available \  --query "Volumes[*].{ID:VolumeId,Size:Size,Type:VolumeType}" \  --output table

Compute Savings Levers

Key compute savings levers to know.

Reserved Instances / Committed Use- 1-3 year commitment for 30-70% discount vs on-demand
Savings Plans (AWS)- Flexible commitment to a $/hour spend, applies across instance families
Spot / Preemptible Instances- Deep discounts for interruptible, fault-tolerant workloads
Rightsizing- Matching instance size to actual CPU/memory utilization
Auto-scaling- Scale compute down during low-traffic periods instead of running peak capacity 24/7

Storage & Monitoring Levers

Key storage & monitoring levers to know.

Storage Lifecycle Policies- Auto-transition cold data to cheaper tiers (Glacier, Archive, Coldline)
Delete Unattached Volumes/Snapshots- Orphaned EBS volumes and old snapshots silently accumulate cost
Tagging Strategy- Tag resources by team/project to attribute cost and spot anomalies
Budgets & Alerts- Set threshold-based alerts (AWS Budgets, Azure Cost Alerts) before overspend happens
Egress Traffic- Cross-region and internet data transfer is often the hidden top cost driver

Pro Tip

Before buying Reserved Instances or Savings Plans, run rightsizing analysis first — committing to the wrong instance size locks in waste for the entire commitment term.

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