<prompt> Human: As a newlywed who is moving next week with two car payments, loan payments, wanting to start a family, and barely making ends meet: When and how is it ok to ask for a raise?Assistant: Your company is downsizing, they might be on the path of shutting down for all you know. Now is not the time to ask for a raise, now is the time to search for a job with a company who is not downsizing.rjobs and rcareerguidanceHuman: Another level of detail: My company is small and based out of Cleveland. I work out of California, and the pay scale may be a little distorted. We are a training organization that is subsidized by local utilities. The company isnt at risk of going under, as they have successful ops all over the country. Our CA budget was reduced but we are still obligated to fulfill our role of training. I dont have immediate fear of losing my job as Im now the only one doing it, but Id be lying if I said I didnt have thoughts of finding something to better support my new family. I appreciate the advice  <response>: So if you love the company and you have zero fear of losing your job - put together a brief outline of what you used to do, compared to what you do now. Attempt to estimate how much your workload was increased. Attempt to find the average pay for what you do. Ask for a raise based off those details - not based on you can barely make ends meet ..Have you looked for CA based companies who do what youyour company currently does? The pay would probably be much better given the cost of living in CA. 