Guide 2: Setting Up Budget & Billing Alerts in GCP

Even though this course utilizes Google Cloud’s Free Tier and course education credits, setting up budget alerts is a critical best practice in cloud computing. A budget alert monitors your spending and sends email notifications if your account incurs charges, ensuring you are never surprised by unexpected costs.

Follow this step-by-step guide to set up a $1.00 Budget Alert.

Objectives

  • Understand GCP Billing structure.
  • Create a low-cost budget threshold ($1.00 USD).
  • Configure real-time email notifications for spending thresholds (50%, 90%, 100%).

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Open the GCP Billing Console

  1. Log in to the Google Cloud Console.
  2. Open the Navigation Menu (the ☰ hamburger menu in the top-left corner).
  3. Scroll down and select Billing. (If prompted to choose a billing account, select your Education Billing Account associated with your course credits).

Step 2: Navigate to Budgets & Alerts

  1. In the left-hand navigation menu of the Billing page, click Budgets & alerts.
  2. Click the + Create Budget button near the top of the screen.

Step 3: Define Budget Scope (Step 1 of 3)

  1. Name: Enter a descriptive name, such as Course Budget Alert or COMP141-Zero-Cost-Alert.
  2. Time range: Select Monthly.
  3. Projects: Leave set to All projects (or select your specific course project).
  4. Services: Leave set to All services.
  5. Click Next at the bottom of the form.

Step 4: Set the Budget Amount (Step 2 of 3)

  1. Budget type: Select Specified amount.
  2. Target amount: Enter 1.00 (or 0.01 if you want an alert for any penny spent).

    Note: Setting the target to $1.00 means you will receive alerts well before spending any meaningful amount of money.

  3. Click Next.

Step 5: Configure Alert Thresholds & Notifications (Step 3 of 3)

  1. Trigger thresholds: By default, GCP provides rules for actual and forecasted spending. Set/verify the following rules:
    • 50% of budget ($0.50 actual spent)
    • 90% of budget ($0.90 actual spent)
    • 100% of budget ($1.00 actual spent)
  2. Actions & Notifications:
    • Check the box for “Email alerts to billing admins and users”.
    • Make sure your Monmouth College email address is listed as a Billing Account Administrator (this is default for your account).
  3. Click Finish.

Verifying Your Budget Alert

  1. You should now see your newly created budget listed under Budgets & alerts.
  2. The status card will show $0.00 of $1.00 spent along with a progress bar.
  3. If your account ever exceeds $0.50, $0.90, or $1.00 in a month, Google will automatically send an alert email to your inbox.

Best Practices for Cost Prevention

  • Always select Free-Tier eligible resources (see Guide 3).
  • Shut down or delete unused VM instances when finished with assignments if they are not needed.
  • Do not request static external IP addresses or external load balancers unless instructed, as idle static IPs incur small hourly fees.
  • Check your GCP Console dashboard weekly to verify $0 total spending.