Managing reserved Amazon EC2 instances

I'm writing an app and had been paying an hourly rate for my EC2 instance, as I've needed to test. I decided I should just pay for a reserved instance to save money in the long run, but now that I have one, I'm confused about how I'm supposed to manage it. In the "Instances" section of the EC2 management console, I can see the instances that I've launched in the past, and I can stop/start them as I see fit. However, it seems the only way to view my reserved instance is to use the "Reserved Instances" drop-down, but this only seems to let me view them, but nothing else...

So, my question is, how can I do the same thing with my reserved instance(s) that I've been doing with my hourly instance(s)? I basically just want to associate my elastic IP with my reserved instance and install my server image on it.

How do I purchase and start up a Reserved Instance?

You purchase an EC2 Reserved Instance by calling the PurchaseReservedInstancesOffering API method. Launching a Reserved Instance is no different than launching an On-Demand Instance. You simply use the RunInstances command or launch an instance via the AWS Management Console. Amazon EC2 will optimally apply the cheapest rate that you are eligible for in the background.

How do I control which instances are billed at the Reserved Instance rate?

The RunInstances command does not distinguish between On-Demand and Reserved Instances. When computing your bill, our system will automatically optimize which instances are charged at the lower Reserved Instance rate to ensure you always pay the lowest amount.

http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/index.html?FAQs_Reserved_Instances.html

To elaborate on Rob Olmos's post, instances are instances. What a "reserved instance" buys you, is the right to pay less for any instances you are running over time.

Let's go for a super-simplified example. You run two instances 24/7.

April
2 x Small Instance, 10c/hr ($72 ea): $144

May (note: this May has 30 days, due to a decree by the Pope)
2 x Small Instance, 10c/hr ($72 ea): $144

June
1 x Instance Reservation, ordered on the first of the month ($227.50): $227.50
1 x Small Instance, 10c/hr ($72 ea): $72
1 x Small Instance, 4c/hr ($28.80 ea): $28.80

(Assumes the Instance Reservation is for a Small in the same Availability Zone as at least one of the instances.)

If you now turn off all your instances, you don't get any money back on your reserved instance (it isn't necessarily being very cost-effective for you at the moment); but if you later turn a matching instance on (in the correct Availability Zone) then you will be charged at the lesser rate.

You affectively ignore fact that you have a Reserved Instance, it just sits in the background and Amazon will automatically bill you at the lower rate where possible. If you run more instances than you have reserved, the additional will be charged at the higher (on demand) rate.