How to Use Google Cloud Credits

Step 1: Access the GCP Console at console.cloud.google.com. Navigate to Billing → Credits to see your credit balance and expiry.

Step 2: Create a Project. In GCP, all resources live within projects. Create a project and link it to the billing account with your credits. All spending in this project draws from your credits.

Step 3: Enable APIs. GCP services require activation. Go to APIs & Services → Enable APIs and search for: Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, BigQuery, Kubernetes Engine, Vertex AI.

Step 4: Deploy resources. Credits work on all GCP services including Compute Engine VMs, Cloud Storage, BigQuery, Cloud Run, and Vertex AI.

Step 5: Monitor spending. Set budget alerts at Billing → Budgets & Alerts at 50%, 75%, and 90% of your credit balance.

Step 6: Optimize. Use preemptible/spot instances (up to 80% cheaper), Cloud Run (scales to zero), and BigQuery query preview to control costs.