Here's another reason to be thankful this holiday season. The cost of putting Thanksgiving dinner on the table is down slightly from last year.

The average Turkey Day dinner will cost $48.90, or just 22 cents less this year than it did in 2018. And while every penny counts, if you need to do any traveling to belly up to the big meal, increases in airline and other forms of travel mean that 22 cents won't get you very far.

The good news is that after some steep price hikes during the economic downturn about 11 years ago, food prices have remained mostly stable this year. It's a welcome change from 2011, when the cost of Thanksgiving dinner jumped $5.73.

The credit for this year's slight drop in price goes to ample turkey supply and stable fuel prices, both strong drivers of the prices consumers pay at the store.

Locally, we spoke with Mark Lammers, General Manager of the Hy-Vee location in Sioux Falls on South Minnesota Avenue.

He pointed out that grocery prices have remained very stable over the past year. All of his indicators that he looks at show grocery costs remaining flat.

Lammers did point out the exception of egg prices right now, they are moving higher and he doesn't exactly know why as of yet. He went on to say that on the flip side, gas prices had dropped over the course of the year, which is a plus

He also suggested during our conversation to let Hy-Vee do all the work for you this Thanksgiving. He has his team at his store serving a Thanksgiving Day meal featuring all the holiday favorites . Also available are various complete Thanksgiving meals to go, which is huge each year with his customers.

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