Making A Website; Help please

I have been wanting to make my own website for a while, but I have never made one before, and I don't know what to do or where to start.
I'm on a tight budget right now and can't afford to pay for a website at this time, so I'll need to use something free. If any of you have done this before, could you give me some tips on how I should go about making a website? Are there any do's and don't's I need to know before I start?
