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You can ask WhatsApp to do its own backup. It'll store it in the WhatsApp folder which shouldn't disappear. Will expire after a week though.
SMS backup is a good app with which to backup texts, contacts etc. Google will/should restore your contacts and apps anyway, if you've got contacts synced. Not sure about settings, I usually end up setting those again. Maybe take screenshots of your home screens so you can remember how they look?
Yes, I can't install 4.4.4 until I get 4.4.3 which I can't install.
Any suggestions for the best way to backup settings, apps, SMS, Whatsapp, etc so I can install a clean ROM and not spend hours upon hours reinstalling everything.