By Emily Monacelli
09/03/2009

Every Wednesday, Rowena Gutierrez sets up a large plywood sign and opens her garage door, inviting people to browse through her possessions -- lamps, a dining table, small angel statues, clothes. If they find something, both people benefit. The buyer takes home the trinket, and Gutierrez puts that money toward the estimated $11,000 she owes in medical bills.

Several times this summer, Gutierrez's three-month long "Broke Ain't No Joke" sale helped her get her gas and electric utilities back on. She continues to sell off her possessions in hopes of paying down medical debt.

"The only thing I can think of is just continue to sell everything from the floor up, and go live with a relative," she said sitting on her exercise bench, the only furniture she hasn't sold from her otherwise empty living room.

"We're down to just the beds we sleep in, you know," she said of her and her 14-year-old daughter. "And my exercise bench."

Read the full story on MSNBC's The Grio. »