How to Use an AI Model Gateway as a Financial Gatekeeper for Project-Level Budget Governance

As an AI API budget governance consultant, I have seen too many indie developers and small teams go through the same script: initially, everyone embraces high hopes for AI applications and enthusiastically integrates APIs from OpenAI, Claude, or Gemini. However, the moment they open the bill at the end of the month, it is often a "shock"—what was thought to be a test costing just a few dollars unknowingly