Why Your AWS Bill Isn’t ‘Expensive’—It’s How You’re Using It (And How to Fix It)

Mthulisi — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 14:23:57 +0000

[Your AWS bill isn’t really expensive—it’s usually about how you use it. Many people treat AWS like a toy, tapping randomly without proper planning. Common mistakes include:

No auto-scaling

Running production-sized instances for development

Ignoring reserved instances for stable workloads

Having no monitoring or cost alerts

This is like owning an expensive car but leaving it idling and blaming fuel costs.

To save money, start doing:

Monthly cost reviews (30 minutes)

Right-sizing instances

Using Spot instances for non-critical workloads

Implementing auto-shutdown schedules

Setting up budget alerts

AWS is a powerful tool, but like any tool, it requires skill to use efficiently. Your costs reflect your usage habits, not AWS pricing itself.](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7397266276601184256/)

HTTPS in 4 lines of HCL

Mthulisi — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 16:12:29 +0000

HTTPS in 4 Lines of HCL — Terraform Template That Replaced My Console Click-Ops

> Week-3 of my 8-week IaC sprint: I turned HTTPS setup from 47 mouse clicks into 4 lines of HCL – and never looked back.

📸 Before (Console Click-Ops)

47 clicks: ACM certificate request → Route 53 alias → CloudFront distro → 3 AM coffee spill.
Result: HTTPS works, but no Git history, no rollback, no sleep.

📸 After (4 Lines of HCL)


hcl
resource "aws_acm_certificate" "cert" {
  domain_name       = var.domain
  validation_method = "DNS"
  lifecycle {
    create_before_destroy = true
  }
}

resource "aws_route53_record" "cert_validation" {
  for_each = aws_acm_certificate.cert.domain_validation_options
  name     = each.value.resource_record_name
  type     = each.value.resource_record_type
  records  = [each.value.resource_record_value]
  ttl      = 60
}

resource "aws_acm_certificate_validation" "cert" {
  certificate_arn         = aws_acm_certificate.cert.arn
  validation_record_fqdns = [for record in aws_route53_record.cert_validation : record.fqdn]
}

resource "aws_cloudfront_distribution" "cdn" {
  # … (truncated for brevity – full repo below)
}



[](https://dev.to/mthulisi28/https-in-4-lines-of-hcl-terraform-template-that-replaced-my-console-click-ops)

**Key Takeaway**
If you’re still clicking through ACM + Route 53, you’re doing it wrong.
Template it once, sleep forever.

🔗 Repo & Badge
Full template: Week-3 HTTPS-by-Code
Badge: Week-3 HTTPS-by-Code PNG (drop into repo README).

Forem: Mthulisi

Why Your AWS Bill Isn’t ‘Expensive’—It’s How You’re Using It (And How to Fix It)

HTTPS in 4 lines of HCL

HTTPS in 4 Lines of HCL — Terraform Template That Replaced My Console Click-Ops

📸 Before (Console Click-Ops)

📸 After (4 Lines of HCL)