🚀 How to Create a Learning Budget in Azure?

🔍 Introduction

Learning new skills can be incredibly beneficial for career advancement and professional growth. However, managing your expenses 💰 is essential to ensure that your learning experience remains affordable. This article will walk you through the step-by-step process of setting up a budget, allowing you to track your spending while ensuring you can afford to continue learning with Azure.

❓ Why a Learning Budget?

As cloud adoption ☁️ has rapidly increased in recent years, many learners have struggled to use Azure effectively due to subscription access limitations. The free $200 monthly credit 🏷️ is often insufficient for long-term learning, especially for users on the African continent 🌍. To make this easier, users can create a long-term budget for learning and practice.

🇳🇬 For Nigerian Users

If you're in Nigeria, Azure does not support NGN payment methods ❌ as they are not accepted as billing options. To bypass this issue, you can obtain a virtual dollar card 💳 and fund it using Naira, which can then be used to purchase USD equivalent. Platforms like GeegPay, Clever, and Chipper provide virtual cards for this purpose.

For those comfortable with cryptocurrency 💱, you can use ByBit virtual cards, Bitmama cards, or any other crypto-based payment platform of your choice. Keep in mind that these virtual cards may come with a creation fee.

Once your payment method is set up, you can proceed to create an Azure account and set up your budget.

📝 Step 1: Sign Up for Azure

Before setting up a budget, you need to have an Azure account. If you don’t have one, you can create a free account that includes $200 in credit for the first 30 days 🎉 and access to popular services for 12 months.

✅ Steps to Sign Up:

Visit the Azure website.
Click on “Start free” and follow the instructions to create your account.

💰 Step 2: Understand Azure Pricing

Azure follows a pay-as-you-go pricing model 💵, meaning you only pay for the services you use. Understanding the pricing of the services you plan to use is crucial for managing costs. The Azure Pricing Calculator can help you estimate expenses for different services.

💼 Step 3: Set Up Cost Management and Billing

Azure provides built-in tools ⚙️ for cost management and billing to help you track and control your spending.

1️⃣ Access Cost Management + Billing

Log into the Azure portal 🔐.
In the left-hand menu, select “Cost Management + Billing”.

2️⃣ Create a Budget

In the Cost Management + Billing section, select "Subscriptions" and “Budgets” 📊.

Click “Add” ➕ to create a new budget.

Enter details such as the budget name, scope, and spending limit 💵.

Set up alerts 🔔 to notify you when your spending reaches specific thresholds. (Optional)

📊 Step 4: Monitor Your Spending

Regularly tracking your expenses ensures you stay within your budget. Azure provides multiple tools 🛠️ to help monitor your spending.

🔍 Cost Analysis

In the Cost Management + Billing section, select “Cost Analysis” 📉.

Use filters to view spending by service, resource group, or time period.

🔔 Cost Alerts

Set up cost alerts to receive notifications 📩 when your spending exceeds a set limit.

In the Cost Management + Billing section, select “Alerts” 🚨.
Click “Add” ➕ to create a new alert.

💡 Step 5: Optimize Your Costs

To maximize your budget, consider using Azure’s cost-saving features 🏷️.

1️⃣ Azure Reservations

Purchase Azure Reservations to save up to 72% 🏆 compared to pay-as-you-go pricing.
In the Azure portal, go to “Reservations” and follow the steps to purchase a reservation 🛍️.

2️⃣ Azure Cost Management Recommendations

Use Azure’s cost management recommendations ✅ to identify opportunities for savings 💡.
In the Cost Management + Billing section, select “Recommendations” 📌.

🎯 Conclusion

Creating a budget for your Azure learning journey is essential to manage costs effectively. By following the steps in this article, you can establish a budget, track your spending, and optimize costs—allowing you to make the most of your Azure learning experience 🚀.