It’s not nearly as hard as it may seem, especially with a SWCG. I’ve found that I really only have to manage my pH by adding acid once a week. I test total and free chlorine, pH, and total alkalinity several times per week. Even though my salt cell has a sensor to tell me the salt content, I use the Taylor kit to test salt roughly once per month. My sensor usually shows a reading about 10% less than the Taylor test. I test CYA and calcium hardness about every other month, as they don’t change very quickly.
I was still working and traveling often during my first decade of pool ownership and tested weekly at best. My pool still managed to survive with virtually no trouble. Give it a good brushing from time to time and keep debris out of the water. Then follow the guidelines of this site and you’ll spend more time enjoying the pool than taking care of it, and you’ll also save a ton of money by managing it yourself!
Yes, I'm pretty confident on maintaining once the SWG is kicked on and my TF-100 and Taylor 1000 have been nice to play around with. But this first 28 day startup period makes me nervous and our PB didn't really give us anything to go by...yikes!