I see no reason that you could not use a simple paper punch, since scrapbooking cutters are designed to punch thick cardstock and papers are far more abrasive to the blades than vinyls. You will want to clean the metal part of the punch with alcohol or acetone every so often to remove adhesive build-up. Bring a 40% off coupon to one of the major craft stores and wander around the scrapbooking punch section. Some weeks the entire craft punch selection is 40% off. One size I haven't had much luck finding is a 1/2" punch (the ones I've found online are expensive enough that I haven't gotten around to ordering it), I wound up getting a circle die punch set (look like hollow nail sets) from Harbor Freight where the largest size is 1/2" but it's a pain to use. You can also find a circle and oval cutter where you dial in the size and it rotates a small blade on an axis to make a circle. I have not had much luck with mine (Fiskars model), but I could simply have bad technique. If you can find circles made out of a material that you can use as an edge for a blade (such as steel or glass, aluminum will be nicked by an X-Acto blade) you can also use that. Get a nice cutting mat while you're at it.
