Why have I been billed without running any instances?

Hi,

The first place to look is the billing console. In the upper right of the console, if you click on your account/user name there will be a dropdown list from which you can select "billing and cost management". From there, there will be a cost breakdown shown that will show you what is causing the billing. Another good place to look is the "bills" tab you'll see on the left.

It could be that you're consuming something that isn't under the free tier, or you've exceeded a free tier limit, or possibly that you're running the resource in another region, which could be why you aren't seeing what's causing the billing. Once you've determined the cause you can shut down those resources and create a billing support case by:

1. Going to the AWS Support Center
2. Clicking on "Create Case"
3. Selecting "Billing" as the issue type
4. Providing details about your situation and requesting a review of the charges

From there, AWS support can discuss the charges with you further and can help you identify what's causing the billing, if necessary.

There are a few potential reasons why you might be seeing charges on your AWS account even without running any instances:

1. Other active resources: While you may not have any running EC2 instances, there could be other AWS resources that are incurring charges. This could include things like EBS volumes, snapshots, S3 buckets, RDS databases, or other services that may still be active.

2. Free Tier limits: Even if you're using Free Tier services, there are usage limits. If you've exceeded these limits, you may be charged. For example, the EC2 Free Tier offers 750 hours per month of t2.micro or t3.micro instance usage. If you've gone over this, you'll be billed for the excess.

3. Services not covered by Free Tier: Some AWS services or specific configurations may not be covered by the Free Tier at all.

To investigate and resolve this issue:

1. Review your billing details: Log into the AWS Management Console and go to the Billing and Cost Management Dashboard. Check the "Bills" section for a detailed breakdown of charges.

2. Check Free Tier usage: In the same dashboard, look at the "Free Tier" section to see if you've exceeded any limits.

3. Search for active resources: AWS provides a method to check for active resources across all regions. This can help you identify any forgotten or hidden resources that might be causing charges.

4. Set up billing alerts: To avoid future surprises, set up billing alerts to notify you when your usage approaches Free Tier limits.

If you've done all this and still believe you're being incorrectly charged, you should contact AWS Support. You can do this by:

1. Going to the AWS Support Center
2. Clicking on "Create Case"
3. Selecting "Billing" as the issue type
4. Providing details about your situation and requesting a review of the charges

When contacting support, be sure to explain that you believe you're being incorrectly billed while using only Free Tier services and that you've already checked for active resources.
Sources
about billing though I am using free tier | AWS re:Post
Been Bill, but on the Free Tier | AWS re:Post
unused account being billed constantly | AWS re:Post

It sounds like you're experiencing unexpected charges despite not using any services outside the AWS Free Tier. Here are a few things to check:

1. Inactive Resources: Sometimes, resources like Elastic IPs, EBS volumes, or Load Balancers can incur charges even if you're not actively using them. Double-check that you don’t have any unused resources still running, such as dormant EBS volumes or Elastic IPs (these are free only if they're associated with a running instance).

2. Free Tier Limits: Ensure you haven’t exceeded the limits of the Free Tier for services like EC2, S3, or Lambda. If you've gone over, you may be charged for the additional usage.

3. Data Transfer Charges: Sometimes, data transfer between AWS regions or from the internet can incur charges, even if you’re not actively using instances.

4. AWS Billing Dashboard: To better understand your charges, visit the Billing and Cost Management Dashboard in your AWS Console. This will give you a detailed breakdown of what you're being charged for.

How to Contact AWS Support:

If you've checked everything and still don’t understand the charges, you can contact AWS Support:

• Go to the AWS Management Console.
• Click on the Support menu at the top-right and choose Support Center.
• From there, you can create a support case to get help with billing or account issues. You can choose "Billing" as the case type to get specific help.

AWS Support can help review your account and clarify any unexpected charges.

Let me know if you need further assistance!

I also suggest you create a $0 budget with email alerting. This will then alert you to any charges above the free-tier.