GitHub distinguishes your included allowance from paid usage. Its documentation says that, without a valid payment method, usage is blocked once the included quota is exhausted. Larger runners require a payment method separately.

With 7 of 2,000 minutes used, the numbers you posted do not indicate that your included minutes are exhausted. However, the “Usage blocked” message means I wouldn't assume the workflow will run, or recommend changing your budget without understanding the block.

Could you share the exact error or annotation from a failed run, and confirm that the repository belongs to the personal account whose allowance you're viewing? Please also include the runs-on value. Those details would help distinguish an allowance issue from a budget or runner restriction without asking you to enable paid usage.

Reference: https://docs.github.com/en/billing/concepts/product-billing/github-actions

Hi there,
No, the workflow cannot use your remaining free minutes and artifact storage in its current state.
When your spending limit is set strictly to US$0.00 on a private repository without a valid payment method, GitHub's billing engine automatically applies the "Usage blocked" status. This is a protective measure to ensure no billable services are triggered, but it unfortunately completely freezes GitHub Actions—even your included free allowance.
Since you strictly do not want to add a payment method or risk any paid charges, here are the two ways you can successfully run your workflow for free:

1. Make the Repository Public (Recommended)

This is the easiest and most effective workaround.
• Why it works: GitHub Actions and artifact storage are 100% free for public repositories using standard GitHub-hosted runners (like Ubuntu).
• When a repository is public, the billing engine bypasses the $0 budget limit and does not check for a configured payment method.
• How to do it: Go to your repository Settings -> General, scroll down to the Danger Zone, and change the visibility to Public.

2. Use a Self-Hosted Runner

If your repository must absolutely remain private, you can run the workflow on your own local machine or server.
• Why it works: Self-hosted runners do not consume GitHub-hosted Actions minutes, meaning they are entirely free to use in private repositories.
• Note: While the workflow will run, uploading artifacts inside a private repo might still hit the billing block. If you encounter this, you may need to upload your small artifact to an external free cloud service (like Google Drive, AWS S3 free tier, or Dropbox) directly via the script.

Alternative (Safe configuration with a card)

If you decide to keep the repo private and want to use GitHub-hosted runners, the only way to unblock the free minutes is to add a payment method. However, you can make it 100% safe from charges by doing the following:

1. Link a card (you can use a virtual or temporary card with a $0 balance).
2. Set your spending limit to US$1.00 instead of $0.00.
3. Ensure "Stop usage when budget limit is reached" is enabled.
   Because you have 1,993 free minutes left, your 5-minute workflow will strictly consume your free allowance. The $1.00 budget will never be touched unless you completely exhaust all 2,000 free minutes, and even then, your max financial exposure is exactly $1.00.
   Let me know if you would like step-by-step instructions on setting up a self-hosted runner!