Casper, just a friendly suggestion on 'tip' #3:

Instead of the classic whet sponge, which although quite slowly deteriorates your tips, use something like the hacky sack (I just call it that because Hakko is the first one I ever saw of it's type.)  It looks like a brillo pad without the soap made from brass instead of steel.  They can be purchase from many sources for under $10.00.  Your tips will last longer and you don't have to wait for your iron to heat back up after cleaning since there's no water to cool down the tip.  (I use 'whet' in the sense of deteriorating the tip to the point of being not useful.)