I'd never pay for the meal, but I'd always consider if for the free seat next to me if the upgrade is either really cheap and/or the segments are long enough to matter. Without a free next flights are really tight for me without wide shoulders, and there's no way I could work that way either.

I just paid 230EUR each for TLV-FRA which isn't exactly cheap, but still a bargain compared to the C fare compared the the very cheap Y fare we booked.