Upvote is mostly if I want better visibility for the post and that is the intended feature even if you do not agree. Sometimes I upvote comments that I like, because comments are not really about that and more about opinion. I do not have downwote option on my instance, nor can I see the down votes which is fine for me.
Your options are XMR(monero), cash or barter. Or hawala as the other poster described here, but I do not know much about that.