Yes, you *could* go to Home Depot or Wal-Mart, and buy a cheap knife, with poor tempering and a lousy edge profile, and then use it in frustration for a few years before you give up and buy a new one.
Or, if you have a friend who is a talented smith, you can have him whip up something like this:
I've been using this almost every day for a couple of years, and it's holding up very well. I suspect my great-grandkids will be using this one.