Purpose of the study: To estimate the degree of relationships between financial attitude, materialism, consumption by status, and consumer perception of the chosen payment method, and impacts on indebtedness.Methodology / approach: We used the survey technique, which collected data from 161 respondents. The quantitative data obtained were analyzed through structural equation modeling, as well as conditional mediation and moderation tests.Main results: Individuals with weak financial attitudes tend to be more materialistic and to consume more by status, and individuals with materialistic and status-driven tendencies are more prone to debt. No relationship was identified between the chosen means of payment and indebtedness. On the other hand, the mediation of the financial attitude in debt mitigation was observed.Originality / relevance: Despite the vast literature on the theories cited in the paper, the relationship between the financial attitude and the buying behavior of the Brazilian consumer had not yet been established, from an attitude perspective as a predictor of behavior.Theoretical / methodological contributions: The work contributes to studies on the inversely proportional advance relationship between financial attitude, status consumption and materialism, in which the latter constructs are discouraged by the individual's trait with that first characteristic. The study also identified the mediation of financial attitude as a debt reduction mechanism.