When I transferred to a university I couldn't afford the parking fees and I lived far away so I couldn't just walk or ride a bike. It cost several hundred dollars for a parking pass. I was a first-generation college student trying to figure out what I was doing and needing to save that much for parking never occurred to me.

Instead I took a chance parking wherever and I got a ticket about 1 out of 10 times. You paid to park in the lot, not assigned parking, so I was never taking someone's parking spot and there were always empty spots available for others.

I spent about $90 on tickets, which was much less than I would have paid for a parking spot.