Unexpected bill received

I understand your concern about receiving an unexpected bill on your AWS account that you created for learning purposes. This is a common issue for new users.

Here are the steps you should take immediately:

1. Review and delete any resources you are no longer using to prevent further charges. Check all AWS services and regions for running resources like EC2 instances, EBS volumes, RDS databases, and Elastic IPs.

2. Use the AWS Billing and Cost Management Dashboard to identify which specific services incurred the charges.

3. Contact AWS Support directly by opening a case under "Account & Billing" category. This type of support is free of charge for all AWS customers. Explain that you're using AWS for learning purposes and request assistance with the unexpected charges. AWS often considers waiving charges as a one-time exception, especially for students or new users.

4. For future protection, set up AWS Budgets and billing alerts to notify you when you're approaching Free Tier limits or incurring costs.

Remember that even with a Free Tier account, you can incur charges if you exceed the Free Tier limits or use services not covered by the Free Tier. The Free Tier has specific usage limits and conditions.

When contacting AWS Support, be clear about your situation and that you were unaware of the potential charges. They have the tools to investigate your specific account and provide guidance on resolving the issue.
Sources
The unexpected billing issue | AWS re:Post
Bill unexpected in free tier | AWS re:Post
Unexpected Bill, learning. | AWS re:Post
unexpexted Billing | AWS re:Post
unexpected billing | AWS re:Post

I know AWS offers a free tier for newbies, but I'm sorry to say that some services may still incur charges. There are a few things you could do to prevent incurring charges.

Take this as an example: this is a free-tier instance, but using a NAT gateway which is not included in the free tier resulted in charges.

1. You can find the detailed charges for each service you've used in "AWS Billing > Bills" and view the "Charges by service" section.
2. Contact AWS support to look into your case (note that they may not refund you, but it's worth a try).
3. You can set a budget for a "zero-spend budget alert," but charges may still occur. However, it will send you notifications instantly when you are being charged.