does the concept of me setting up my own central git server as well make any sense from the point of view of a way to ensure I can (when I'm not remote) "check-in" to the central git server& thereby keep a separate copy of my code (i.e. effectively a backup)
You can always keep local clones that serve as "stable" backup repos. However, I think most people would suggest you just create stable/experimental branches and merge from one to the other as appropriate.
If you need some nice working examples of people using git for personal projects, I recommend you search Google for the many ways of using git to manage home directories. Applying git to home directory management involves many of the same questions (and answers) as what you're bringing up here, and it probably will give you some ideas about the most effective git usage for your case.
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