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QUINCY, IL -- What was once considered a lifestyle for the rich and famous has now become an affordable luxury.

Personal chef services are popping up across the country, including at least three here in the Tri-States.

That's where someone else fixes your food and delivers it to your home for a fee.

Tay Wallace owns Ready to Serve personal chef service. She's been doing this for about 12 years and finds much joy in cooking for dozens of clients.

Tay meets with interested customers to find out their likes, dislikes and needs. After the customer approves a menu she's created for them, Tay prepares 10 entrees, including salad, side dishes and dessert. The meals last anywhere from two to four weeks and are delivered all at once. The food the customers choose to eat first is thawed out first, while the rest is frozen for later. Everything is made from scratch--and it's all fresh, from salads to vegetables.

Tay's clients range from those on normal diets, to those trying to lose weight or those who have special food needs. Plus, the service usually comes with a surprise that changes from month to month.

As for price, a couple pays $300 a month for 10 meals. We did some checking and found that Tay's servings are a little bigger than you might think, so you'll probably have leftovers from those meals.

In essence, one of those meals will cost you $15 per person.

We did some checking at a Quincy grocery store to find out what it would cost you if bought the ingredients to some of her entrees.

Keep in mind these are merely the ingredients to the entrees; that doesn't include side dishes, salad or dessert.

All of the ingredients for her lasagna added up to a little more than $20. Ingredients for a pork loin dish added up to a little more than $42.

These figures don't include the gasoline it'll take to drive to the grocery store, the cost of cooking the food, and the time it takes to make the meal and clean up afterward.