SPRINGFIELD -- Imagine hitting your favorite grocery store, filling your cart to the brim and walking out paying less than $20. If that sounds like a pipe dream to you, it can happen to you.

Groceries are a necessity but they don't have to be the anchor weighing down your wallet. Just ask the woman we found, who laughs in the face of full prices.

Tammy Collins lives the saying: “Love what you do.”

Her former job title was stay-at-home mom.

“My husband was the only one working and we were going broke,” she said.

So she got herself a job as a chief financial officer -- for her home. And from her desk that doubles as a kitchen table, she found a way to save her family some serious cash.

"I started going online and looking at different mom sites, and that's how I got into couponing.”

What began as a few clipped coupons in an envelope turned into a calling -- and two binders full of deals.

"I graduated to this size, which is much thicker, three inches. I outgrew that one, so I had to pull this one back out!"

She figures some might be quick to call her just another crazy coupon lady. But, with results like this, she's more likely a genius.

"My total before coupons was $120.07. I walked out of there, swiping my debit card at 18.03,” she said after a recent shopping trip.

“A lot of people say I don't have time to do it. Really, with gas at over $3 a gallon, you really can't afford not to!"

And Collins says there's no need to be intimidated! She was a novice clipper a few years ago.

Here are her tips for the rest of us.

--Gather your savings. ("I buy 10-15 newspapers a week, sometimes I buy more.")

--Send a friendly email to your favorite companies. ("This was a really valuable comment. It netted me one year’s worth of pasta and sauce for free!")

--Know before you go. ("I usually organize it by the grocery aisles.”)

--Be a preferred customer. (“If a store has a store card, get it. It takes five minutes to fill out that card.")

-- Buy in advance. (“This is my pantry; this is called stocking up.")

"I spend anywhere from $150 to $200 a month on groceries for a family of six; $200 is a bad month."

I couponing is a bit much for you, there are plenty of deals on the shelves of your store right now.

-- Be blind to branding.

"I'm having to go generic with a lot of stuff, canned foods, frozen foods,” said Brandi Cook, another shopper from Springfield.

--Buy big.

"I buy some stuff in bulk, like lunch meats, that sort of thing,” said Cook.

If you're doing all that, Collins says you should take it further.

"It's a game; it's become a very fun game. It becomes how much money can I save at the grocery store this week!" she said. "This week, I saved 99 percent. It was almost free!"

The time, the traveling and the strategy is worth it.

"It's just like a business, and businesses fail if you don't run it efficiently."

Collins got her start by visiting hotcouponworld.com. There are tips on how to get started couponing, deals from nearly every store imaginable, and there's even a thread for Springfield shoppers to share info on local sales.

The Internet truly makes saving opportunities endless.