Living Costs

Over the summer, we carried out a review of GP fees. We were prompted to do this as many of you had got in touch about a sudden increase in costs for seeing a doctor – more than £10 in some instances – just before the Government announced their £20 subsidy for standard appointments and free appointments for children. We've published our findings in our latest newsletter, which is currently being distributed to all homes in Jersey, or can be read online here: Newsletters (consumercouncil.je) As you'll see from our price table, the price range between the cheapest surgery and the most expensive is still significant – nearly £20 in some instances. Furthermore, and perhaps more worryingly, is that not all surgeries seem to have passed on the £20 saving they have been contracted to do. We'll be keeping a regular eye on the cost of healthcare prices and letting you know of our findings. Find out more in our latest newsletter: Newsletters (consumercouncil.je)

If you’re looking for an excuse to have a mid-week pizza then look no further – today (Wednesday, 20 September) is Pepperoni Pizza Day! The day is a celebration of what is apparently regularly voted the world’s most popular pizza topping. Like many groceries, oven pizzas can vary in price considerably across our supermarkets in Jersey, it’s hard to know where to go for the best deal. And, similarly, takeaway prices can also vary substantially. So, to mark Pepperoni Pizza Day, we thought we’d compare the prices of both frozen and takeaway peperoni pizzas across the Island, to help you shop around for the best prices. Keep reading to see the Island's cheapest, and most expensive, pepperoni pizzas.    Did you know? Legend has it that Raffaele Esposito created the first pizza in June 1889. The Queen of Italy, Margherita of Savoy, inspired the pizza maker so much that he created the pie-shaped delicacy and, in the queen’s honor, he named it Pizza Margherita. He topped the pizza with tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella to represent the colours of the Italian flag. Pizza has evolved – and grown considerably in popularity – since then, and there’s now endless possibilities of toppings and flavour combinations available. However, pepperoni remains the most popular, regularly topping polls. Pepperoni takes its name from ‘peperoni’ – with one ‘p’ – an Italian name for a pepper. In Italy, pepperoni is known as ‘salame piccante’ or spicy salami. Pepperoni is a dried sausage made of a mixture of pork, beef, and spices, often including peppers. The name ‘pepperoni’ began being used following the First World War, primarily in Italian-American communities, initially.   Frozen supermarket peperoni pizzas – from the most expensive to the cheapest (All prices correct as of Wednesday, 20 September, and show the cheapest frozen peperoni pizza available in store. Please note, prices may vary in other branches of the same stores). Marks and Spencer (King Street) – £4.25 Alliance (St Helier) – £2.75 Morrisons (Five Oaks) – £2.57 Waitrose (Rue des Pres) – £2.30 Iceland (Grouville) – £1.99 Co-op (Locale Pontac) – £1.95   Takeaway peperoni pizzas – from the most expensive to the cheapest (All prices correct as of Tuesday, 19 September, and show the price for a 12” pizza, unless stated otherwise. Please note, the majority of these can be ordered on food.je, but Pizza Express and Domino’s must be ordered from them directly.) Domino’s (11.5”): £20.99 (however, lots of deals available to add to bring the price down) Pizza Express (thin base): £16.40 Alvin's Hot Stuff Pizza: £15.99 Franky's: £15.95 Cafe790 at Strive (no size specified): £15.95 West Side Pizza: £15.60 Pizzeria Famosa (no size specified): £15 Pizza Express (thick base): £14.45 The Portelet Inn: £14.25 Casa Mia (no size specified): £13.95 Fresh Crust Pizza: £13.90 Robin Hood (deep pan): £13.90 Pope’s Pasta (no size specified): £13.60 Pizza Lovers: £13.20 Vasco da Gama: £13 Bolero Bistro: £13 Pizza Quarter: £12.75 Robin Hood (thin base): £12.70 The Watersplash: £12.50 Max Grill: £12.50 Bonetti's at The Merton (no size specified): £12 Caffé Ristorante Italia (no size specified): £11.95 The Langtry: £11.95 Turkish Delight: £11.90 Alfonso's Pizzeria & Coffee Shop: £10

As we head towards autumn, Which? magazine have given some great ways to save money on your laundry. Here are our top tips, taken from their article:   Reduce your washing temperature Wash at a temperature of 20°C or 30°C to save money. Which? Say that if you wash at 30°C, it could save you £25 a year, or at 20°C the saving is £40 a year. Tips Switch to a liquid laundry detergent to help shift stains. Which? found that tough stains lift more easily with liquid at lower temperatures. Pre-treat tough stains with diluted detergent or stain remover before the wash.   Fill your machine Rather than putting several smaller washes on quick programs, try less washes on longer programs, but fill the drum. Which? found that by doing bigger washes four times a week it used 17% less energy than three smaller washes on quick programs. By doing this you’re also using less washing detergent, so it’s a saving on both.   Maintain your tumble dryer Which? tested a range of heat pump dryers with over 20 loads of washing. They were shocked to find out that some machines used 50% more energy on the last load compared to the first load. This is because of the filter being blocked. Tips Wait until your machine is cooled. Find your lower filter at the bottom of the dryer. Once unlocked, remove larger fluff and hair from the heat exchanger. Rinse the filter if it’s removeable. Dry thoroughly before putting back.

Good news for the Island’s motorists. Fuel prices are finally going down in most of our forecourts. Check out the latest prices by visiting our website http://pricecomparison.je. Or search ‘Jersey Price Comparison’ in your App Store to download our app.

The Government has made the following announcement today, proposing to change the way data is accessed by credit reference agencies to help Islanders obtain loans, credit cards, and other sources of credit. By early 2024, the Government is aiming to provide credit reference agencies with access to data from the People Directory, a central repository that holds address and contact details of the general public. The People Directory is currently used across Government of Jersey departments to deliver a consistent and collective service to individuals, companies, and organisations. This will help credit reference agencies provide affordability checks and CDD (KYC) checks in accordance with money laundering obligations. Providing access to data through the People Directory is necessary due to the automated use of data sources used by banks and credit providers to manage their onboarding processes.Jersey has different sources of data and this has created complications and increased costs for those companies offering the same services to the Jersey market, including an absence of information available to credit reference agencies. Deputy Elaine Millar, Assistant Chief Minister with delegated responsibility for Financial Services, said: “Over the past five years, there has been a withdrawal of credit card providers from Jersey. This proposal is a great step forward and should allow more banks and other financial servicesproviders to offer credit to individuals and businesses in Jersey. "We are asking Islanders to provide Government with their feedback on this proposal and, if enacted, we hope this should remove some of the known hurdles to banks and card service providers offering products such as credit cards. We hope that banks, loan companies and credit card providers will recognise this and provide a full range of services for Islanders.” Islanders are asked to give their views on credit reference agencies accessing data in this way as part of a Government of Jersey consultation. Details of the consultation, and a link to the survey, are available here: Credit reference agency access to information

Once again, we see that the cost of living continues to hover above the ten per cent mark for consumers in Jersey. However, the rate at which our Jersey Consumer Council ‘Basket of Basics’ has increased over the past two years is currently sitting at a wallet-busting level. Other than potatoes, everything has shot up, giving an average increase of a staggering 25% over two years.  The 14 items, we believe, represent a core of a lot of people’s shopping and, if these ‘basic’ items can climb so drastically, then it goes to show why Islanders continue to struggle every time they visit a supermarket. This kind of data – which is there for all to see on pricecomparison.je – highlights that our Island’s decision makers should not always rely on the headline inflation figures being published, and instead drill down further to see how real people are being impacted by real, everyday prices. While we wait for prices to stop climbing so fast, we encourage you all to keep shopping around. Please don’t assume that just because you always go to the same supermarket, you’re getting the best value. The price difference on exactly the same item across our small Island is both staggering and concerning. In the meantime, our Council volunteers continue to walk up and down the aisles with a clipboard every fortnight, gathering nearly 150 product prices, to help you decide where might be best place to do your shopping. See the full table showing how much the basic items have risen in the last two years on page two or our latest magazine here. You can find the latest prices for these products in the ‘JCC Essentials’ section of pricecomparison.je or our Price Comparison app.