Best practices for a fresh stock Android (not Graphene) install?

I want to keep using Google Wallet, so I won't install Graphene, but I'm curious what some best practices are (privacy and otherwise) for an unused stock android (Pixel 9)?

The plan so far is install Aurora to get F-Droid and install what apps I can from there before checking elsewhere.

Also wondering if Google accounts be used on an app-by-app basis or do I need to sign in to the entire phone?