As a fellow newbie.....please listen to these folks. They have taught me that this is all I need:
A real testkit. See the testkit info at this site, and get a real test kit.
Liquid chlorine. Tablets are a problem waiting to happen. Only use tablets when you go on vacation.
Muriatic acid. To lower pH. Keep your pH between 7.0 and 8.0.
Borax or baking soda to increase pH. Again, keep it to 7.0 and 8.0.
CYA. This is chlorine stabilizier. Should be ideally at 30ppm (lower if an indoor pool). If you have used tablets for a while, they contain CYA which means you probably have high CYA which affects your chlorine effectiveness (higher CYA requires higher FC).
Don't fight it. These guys know their stuff. I got on board a few weeks ago and my pool is already better for it!