With only pushing that much traffic I see no reason why a shared hosting account cannot support your website. Not sure why you would need a VPS, specially if you have never ran a server before it would be alot more hassle then good for you.. 700 visitors a day on a VB forum is not alot of resources at all, and a good shared hosting machine could handle that no problem, now if you start getting 700 users + online at all times, then maybe a VPS or even a dedicated would be good, but if its only 700 throughout the day thats a small foot print. Id be glad to assit you in a shared hosting account that would be affordable for you and handle the items you need to handle, then as your site grows we can work on a dedicated server or VPS as you need it. But right now, I really dont see the need for the extra expense unless of course you plan to grow alot bigger very quickly. and if thats the case, Instead of investing in a VPS, you should probably start with a dedicated server, so you will not have to move the site again for a good while..
If I could help you further feel free to contact me, or if you just have further questions respond on the board ill gladly help answer them my email is
steve@lighti.net
If your heart is set on a VPS you need to ask yourself a few questions
1. How much do I expect to expand the site and it to grow within 6 months.
2. How much do I know about running a linux/windows (whichever you choose linux being the cheapest) server? Will I need to pay extra to have it managed (could cost between 50-100 a month easy for just the management)
You also have to understand a VPS is on a shared processor, so its basically a shared hosting account with you being allocated say X amount of Ram, X amount of HD space X amount of bandwidth, but your still sharing the same processor and the same bandwidth port.