Social Security recipients will get a cost of living increase in 2012.
It's welcome news for many cash-strapped seniors, but after two years without an increase, it's left others such as Thaddeus Hodge disappointed.
"My rent, my cable, my phone bill, I get all that paid at the beginning," Hodge says. He says he got used to looking at an empty wallet after he went on Social Security and disability benefits 18 years ago.
"I used to get paid every week, and made a lot more money. Now I get paid once a month and make a lot less money."
Medications are one of Hodge's biggest expenses. He says he spends about $200- $300 a month stocking his pill box. When he heard the government will soon put a little more in his wallet, he thought it was about time.
"My first thought was 'okay, that's good.' My second thought was 'well, there goes health care, it's going up too.'"
The 2012 Social Security cost of living increase will be the first in three years.
In January, every check will increase by about 3.6 percent. According to the Social Security Administration, that's an average increase of about $39 dollars per person each month.
"An extra $39 a month, that's not even a bag of groceries," the former auto glass worker says. He says it won't go far toward keeping his freezer stocked, especially if health care costs increase.
The Social Security Administration says if Medicare costs increase in 2012, it could partially or completely offset the cost of living increase.
But Hodge says he hopes to squeeze a few extra bucks from the cost of living adjustment, making it a little easier to roll with the punches.
Medicare has not yet announced any fee changes for 2012.