My hike is due in a couple of months and knowing that they will try to get away with the least that they could pay, I want to prepare upfront to ask for better pay.
For context I work for a big 4 company, yet get paid so little that I have to debate between taking my dad to the hospital for his monthly checkup or letting my family starve. It's also demoralising that my batch mates from college, with more or less the same years of experience, are being paid more than double from smaller companies.
With the recent shenanigans by the government which lead to price hikes for everyday goods, I can't seem to afford basic and absolutely necessary things.
I want to ask for a better raise this time. They are already started return to office campaign too. Moving to office without a raise is impossible. I can't even afford the regular expenses while working from home. Give the extra expenses that will come up, I can't even think about moving back to the office location now.
So as of now, the only thing that I have in my mind is the extra expense from price hikes and the would be expenses if they make us come back to the office.
What else should I keep in mind before asking for a raise? How do I calculate how much I should ask for? What's your take on it?