I was wondering if I could have some advice about photography :)

I've taken cute shots for years and some of them turned out nice but I'm very interested now and I want to improve..I was hoping some of you could help me with that.

I'd like any tips on how to improve and what to learn about!
My overall plan is to practice as much as possible and improve as I very slowly save for a ncie camera, so that by the time I get one I can utilize it properly.
How do I really go about learning about lighting for example? And what else is truly important?

Thanks for any tips and help :)