I never bought parking passes because they were ridiculously priced even 15 years ago.
What I did was look at the free bus routes and figure it out from there where I could park on the street, and give myself an extra 45 mins of time to allow for parking/bus waiting. Usually I was able to find something in W Campus but if that wasn't looking good then I'd go on over by Disch Falk field and park over there where there was almost ALWAYS somewhere to park. Not sure if the street is still free and clear over there but that was always my sweet-spot for free parking and easy bus-lifting.