Well, it's been several days since I've posted a comment here. Haven't really needed to. I've settled into a routine now of testing the pool water every morning after I've made my first cup of coffee. I just have a seat in the backyard with my trusty TF-100 kit and test the FCs and CCs every morning, then do a complete test every week. This has been working well. I'm having to add chlorine almost every morning -- the amount varies -- but I guess this is normal. The main thing, though, is the pool's water remains crystal clear. Last week I had to SLAM for a couple of days, but it passed the OCLT so things have settled back to normalcy. I've found that, as long as I maintain this simple daily routine, the amount of time I'm actually having to spend on pool maintenance is now minimal.
I've done a rough calculation on consumables -- chlorine, in this case -- and it looks like I'm averaging one of the Home Depot 3-packs every six days (not including SLAMming of course, which would increase costs, obviously). So that's five of the 3-packs per month, or $50 per month. Sure beats paying that incompetent pool guy $150 a month to screw up my pool. By a long shot.