We have just added a 'nifty fifty' to our canon kit, its a delight to use, picked it up for £60 secondhand, a bit 'plastic' but sharper than the rubbish kit lens, it is thought to be fantastic value for money (look at the cost of the f1.4). Of course this will not give you those nice full frame close ups we love, cost of nice primes (200mm) with IS are well out of our reach. High iso helps with shutter speed at a cost.
Just shoot loads and keep the best, and costs nothing but time.
www.focusmagic.com may be fun to play with but its $45 to buy.