I use GrapheneOS ony phone and a Mac with the security options as optimized as possible. For most of my emailing etc, I use Tuta and Proton. There are instances however, where having a Google account is beneficial (some apps for example won't download from Aurora store in anonymous mode).
Is it advisable/possible to create a dummy Google account with minimal ID/credentials? And if so, what are some best practices for doing so?
Or, do I resign myself to the fact that with more control over my data, I have to sacrifice more?
Last time I opened a new Google account ~2019 I noticed if you did it from some countries it didn't ask for a phone number (even on a vpn). I remember Greece and Romania being two of them. It's been a while since then but it's worth a try. But you also had to receive an email within a few a hours otherwise it asked for a verification. This was all through trial and error so take it with a grain of salt of course.
I created a google account last month, using a new chromebook hooked up to wifi. It let me create the account without a phone number, let me install software etc. Then when I rebooted, it demanded a phone number because of "suspicious traffic". (wtf?)