Will we ever be able to afford to have children?”Personal finance is never really about the money. It’s about what you can and can’t do. To Melissa Will, personal finance is about starting a family – specifically, why she just can’t have a baby now, or anytime soon.“I would like to have some realistic idea of when we can afford to have kids,” says Melissa. “But I looked at what it costs to have a baby, and it’s about the same amount that we have in our checking account right now.”In some ways, Melissa is living the American dream. She married long-time boyfriend Ryan in 2011 when he got out of the Army, and they purchased a small ranch-style three-bedroom in her hometown in the Pacific Northwest soon after. Hard-working and responsible, she ran the numbers, and the conclusion is inescapable -- they are just getting by. So for the foreseeable future, that means no babies.