Unless they SPECIFIY "individual income only, no household income" she should absolutely put the household income as HER income.
My husband makes twice what I do, but his scores suck (he apparently had a problem with paying things on time for years before me.) So, using my cleaner record with our incomes added together wins for apps. Afterall, I'm using the cards for household expenses, why wouldn't I use household income to pay for them?
That being said, I definitely feel more financially secure having things in my own name regardless of what happens in the future.
Sock - 
Chopping Block - 
Debit Cards - 
@Anonymous wrote:My daughter is a housewife and takes care of her three kids full time.
She was considering opening a new card. ...
1- Currently she has three old cards in her name (Shell 800, BofA 13K and Bank of the West 20k). She is AU on 5 of her husband's cards and has a joint auto Loan with her husband to help her credit.
she was interested in applying for an American Express card and I didn't know what to tell her to put for her income? She files jointly with her husband, but no income of her own.
also, would she apply as "unemployed" with 160k (the income that is his that they jointly file)? I thought that would look really weird. I noticed "other" is an option too.
any advice would help
Speaking as a person who was a stay-at-home mom for many years, and an independent contractor off & on for years, I listed household income. Speaking as someone who later on began to deal with a spouse who repeatedly trashed his credit, she absolutely needs to continue to establish credit in her own name - not just as an authorized user.
I'm not in any way saying that will ever be the case in her situation. But all sorts of changes can occur over the years and it's best to be proactive. Continuing to establish credit in her name, using household income, will give her some flexibility in the future, if she needs it. My husband and I were authorized users on each other's CCs for many years. When he continued to not learn from past credit abuse mistakes, I was able to remove myself from his cards and remove him from mine. That saved my FICOs. I maintain 800+ while he has consistently been in the 500's in recent years.
Plus, it's not just CCs & FICOs that are impacted. It also influences things like car insurance rates, opening new cellular accounts, etc. Building years of responsible credit history in her own name will help secure her future credit opportunities, if & when she needs them.
I listed "other" over the years when not working. A couple applications (don't remember which) gave the opportunity to fill in what you considered your title. I enjoyed putting "Home CEO & CFO" lol. While there are obviously no guarantees, I have never been financially reviewed by a creditor or had to submit POI. But if I had, our taxes have always been filed jointly, so I had the proof they would've needed. As long as she sticks with what can be verified on their joint returns, she should be fine. I have 2 Amex, using household income and applying in my own name. 
