The state will start replacing license plates with the new pine tree design in May, but if you want to keep your number, start thinking about it now. Courtesy of Maine Secretary of State

I recently went to renew my car registration online, and while I never have all the information I need on hand — current mileage, excise tax receipt number — there was another question that I wasn’t prepared to be unprepared for: Do I want to pay $25 to keep my license plate number?

I knew that the new pine tree plates were coming in May, but I didn’t anticipate having to think about it until then. However, since the spring, the Secretary of State’s Office has been allowing Mainers to reserve their plate numbers, and so far, 61,000 drivers have done so.

With my registration about to expire, I had to make a decision on the spot about how attached I was to my license plate number, something I hadn’t considered until that moment but that I thought called for some serious soul-searching.

I’ve had my license plates for about 15 years — they’re the kind with the peeling numbers that necessitated this whole change — and I’ve only just gotten to the point where I can fill out a parking form at a hotel with enough confidence not to go outside and check. With new plates, how long would it take to get there again?

Plus, I have various accounts set up that require an up-to-date license plate number on file — E-ZPass, parking apps, who knows what else. Is it worth it to my future self not to have to figure out those passwords and change the number?

And then there’s the unknown of what the new combination of numbers and letters would be. Sure, the Secretary of State’s Office has standards, but there’s a litany of new words and phrases that could easily slip by a skibidi state employee. Could I risk ending up with TAYH8R and getting tailgated by swarms of Swifties?

But the big question here is the dollar value assigned to a tried-and-true license plate number — and this is where it gets personal. If it was 10 bucks, it would be a no-brainer for me; $50 would be a no-way. But $25? It’s a relief when that’s all your rent goes up, but it’s also an exciting coupon to find in your Hannaford Rewards.

I realize this is not “Sophie’s Choice” and that I probably had a more difficult time than most would with this decision, but I know I’m not the only one. There’s a waitlist for therapists these days for a reason, and if there wasn’t a $30 copay making it a moot point, I would have asked mine.

Instead, I decided to use my phone-a-friend. Yes, you get more of these in life than on an episode of “Millionaire,” but there’s still a limited amount of personal predicaments you can drag other people into (even your domestic partner) before they start blocking your number.

I explained the situation via text, describing the dilemma as “a real doozy.”

“Just get the new plates,” he said. “25 bucks is a nice lunch out.”

He clearly didn’t grasp the complexity of the situation, but I was done grappling and happy to have someone else make the call. When I opted for the new number, however, another question popped up: Do you want the pine tree design or no tree? No difference in dollar amount.

Huh. I was never sold on that proposed new flag, but would going with the plainer design actually make me seem kind of high-maintenance?

I knew I was on my own with this one and couldn’t handle another existential crisis that day, let alone risk getting timed out of the website and having to start all over. I defaulted to the pine tree plates and let my brain take a breath — but not for long.

Come to find out, you can change your mind and reserve your number for up to six months after declining it during the registration renewal process. Looks like I’ve got some thinking to do.