Where money usually leaks
Oversized instances, overly chatty logs, “forever” data retention, extra ALB/Elastic IPs, duplicate environments.

Practical steps

• Right-sizing + autoscaling for EKS/ECS and RDS; use savings plans/spot where risk is acceptable.

• Smarter logging: filters, retention, compression; move noise out of production.

• S3 lifecycle: hot/warm/cold tiers with clear rules.

• CDN/cache: less backend traffic, steadier latency.

• Regular cost reviews: remove “forgotten” resources, enforce tags, alert on anomalies.

What not to break

• DR plan: RTO/RPO, verified backups, recovery drills.

• Performance tests after each change; observability to catch side effects.

Takeaway
FinOps is a process, not a one-off action. Set the rules, automate checks, and measure continuously - so savings never cost you uptime.