Satisfied about first instalment of raise I earn (5)
I believe the answer is:
merit
'earn' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'satisfied about first instalment of raise i' is the wordplay.
'satisfied' becomes 'met' ('meet' can be a synonym of 'satisfy').
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'first instalment of' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'raise' is 'r'.
'r'+'i'='ri'
'met' placed around 'ri' is 'MERIT'.
(Other definitions for merit that I've seen before include "Have a right" , "credit" , "Good point or quality" , "Rate" , "The M in OM" .)