HTC Incredible :: Back-up Everything Before RUU / Factory Reset

So I'm still fairly new to Android (Incredible's my first Android devide), and was skeptical about install the RUU (thanks for the guide, true!). But when I read that others who had used the OTA or update.zip sometimes had to do a factory reset as well, I figured using RUU wouldn't hurt. In fact I believe (IMO, which has no technical backing) that RUU may be better than OTA/update.zip, because like upgrading an OS on a computer, a fresh install is better that upgrading over a previous OS. Anyway enough of that. My biggest hang-up was backing-up my apps, contacts & text messages (realizing that settings couldn't be saved, no matter what I tried). Since I had never rooted/done anything with my Incredible prior to this, I was also worried about losing apps that I paid for. Now while the following may seem basic to most of you, I know I would have loved to have had this information prior to my RUU update, just to put my mind at ease. So, to anyone out there who's on the fence, check this out. This does not save 3rd party apps. If you have those, you'll need to back those up using ASTRO or App Monster* Before anything else, download AppBrain App Market (it's in the Market). Open the app, and click on "Manage my apps", then sign-in using your Gmail account. Once it's set, click on the "Sync with AppBrain" button on the bottom left side. Then, you can go to www.appbrain.com, log-in with your Gmail account there, and see all of your apps (under "My Apps" at the top) accounted for on your phone (this is also a great place to find new apps, but that's for a different time). Once you've basically accounted for all your apps on AppBrain, you're good to go with free apps.