OK, that’s too dramatic: Last night I had my last meal with the last of the brand name items I used to buy.

My personality type (see my “real” career at www.vantageseminars.com) is one that’s the largest group in the country. We’re 35% of the population and we’re creatures of habit and really loyal to products and places we deal – to a point. Of the 10 most common grocery items I buy (excluding milk and eggs) this was the last brand name item. Classico pasta sauce went up over 30% in price over the past few months. Tell me again where inflation is down to 4%?

Change is hard for our personality types. We don’t “move” until the pain level is high enough. That kind of price increase was. It turns out – for this product like every other I’ve said good-bye to – there are no-name alternatives that are just as good or even better! But we’d never know if we don’t get ticked off enough to try!

Our upside is prices significantly lower. The downside for manufacturers and retailers is that our personality type doesn’t come back. But the savings are worth it.