Mike Annen has had the same Saturday job for almost 50 years, and couldn't give it up if he tried.

Annen parks vehicles on his property on Badger football Saturdays, waving cars into the driveway of the home that he grew up in and bought from his parents. It's near the intersection of Orchard and Mound streets, six blocks from Camp Randall Stadium.

The $15 fee is light years beyond the 10 cents he charged when he was a grade-schooler but probably goes about as far.

"Most of the people that are here have been here before," Annen said before last week's season opener against Akron. "That's why I can't shut it down -- they'd pull in and park anyway."

Yard parking is a tradition near the stadium on home football Saturdays, right up there with the Fifth Quarter, red and white overalls and two-story beer bongs. With a limited amount of parking for an 80,000-plus seat stadium that borders a residential neighborhood, game days breed a slew of entrepreneurs.

Like many small businesspeople, the car parkers often work together despite technically being in competition. Many share the same ground rules and even work together on pricing. While the practice seems to produce easy money that could be used for beer or vacations, most seem to have it earmarked for life's necessities.

Cullen Steck, a University of Wisconsin freshman, rents a house on Regent Street with seven others. If the roommates squeeze the cars or vans in there just right, they can fit 15 behind the house.

"It will pay for the utilities for the whole year," Steck said.

Steck said the roommates checked with the city about rules for getting cars in and out via their driveway and the Southwest Bike Path. They also got the OK from the landlord for their business, which isn't a given.

"Some of the landlords reserve the right to park themselves or to do the parking," he said. "Ours said we can do it."

Anna Bradford, a UW senior, is in her first year parking cars at her Randall Avenue apartment. The lease she and her roommates signed said they can park as many cars as they want. They figure they could fit about 11 for $20 each, which translates to $1,540 over the seven-game home season.

"A lot of landlords do it themselves, but it helps us that the landlord is in Milwaukee," she said.

The roommates will also use their parking money for practical purposes.

"The girls last year said it paid for the utilities for six months," she said.

Prices vary depending on a property's proximity to the stadium. Randall and Regent streets tend to be $20-25; spots further out run about $15. Steck said the car-parkers around his Regent Street house generally agree on a price of $25, but drop it as kickoff nears.

Brent Sainsbury came up with a different pricing system for the parking area he and his fiancee, Lindsey Thiemann, share with neighbor Bob Kaiser two blocks west of the stadium on Regent Street. The charge is $30 for a big sports utility vehicle all the way down to $10-15 for a small car. As one who went through Community Car's "Divorce Your Car" program, Sainsbury thought it was a way to make a statement about the vehicles.