You can buy a car or a home with your credit alone and your name alone. You may acquire the loans in only one name and the deed/title have both names. Do consider that there may be considerations for the spouse in calculating loan burden even if they're not included in the loan processing, an example of this is student loans. If your spouse has student loans, but no income, it may be presumed that the burden of paying that loan falls to you and it could be factored into your debt to income ratio. This may not always be the case, but be aware of it--the spouses' credit would still have no bearing on your credit worthiness, but the debt-to-income ratio would increase possibly decreasing the amount you are eligible for. Putting one or both names on a document could have future implications if there was ever a divorce, but since it would be acquired as martial property, both spouses would be entitled to rights to the property regardless of who's name is on the deed/title so it could be eaiser to go with one name. (Disclaimer: this can vary from state to state, but after a few homes and marriages myself, I would say it's common place that both parties have rights in all assets acquired during marriage.)