That's not expensive at all. Sorry but come on man. You're considering the linoleum cutter? Buy one good knife and treat it well and look after it and it will far outlive its price tag and you won't become discouraged by poor results from crap tools. You should spend from $20 to $40 on a good starter knife IMO.

Here is one a couple of bucks cheaper, and generally considered the entry level go to knife. Flexcut are decent, good steel, the handles are comfortable and people tend to like them but then move on to fancier knives with shapes / sizes that fit the work they do.

You can't just buy the knife either, unless you only want to carve one time, you'll also need honing compound and a strip of leather to glue to a flat board to strop your knife with every 20 minutes or so of carving. Here it is on amazon