Being a CPA for 46 years, I can't help but look at ROI. In the case of a pool, I'd be happy to learn I could even get my money back on a resale. Talk to a realtor in your area to see what your chances are of getting your money back from upgrades or major maintenance repairs. One good question you could ask yourself, is how much was it worth to you when you bought the house three years ago? Financially speaking, in my opinion, a swimming pool is a lot like a boat. but where a boat is a hole in the water into which you throw money, a pool is a hole in the ground. One difference, though, is if you don't use a boat it doesn't cost you anything, where a pool will cost you money every month of every year you own it. I found Rich's comment interesting where he figured it cost about $550 per swim. Frankly, I'm a little afraid to do that math. Not sure I could take it.
As someone else mentioned, there are skimmer options, although I've not heard of one of those $600 solar powered skimmers that lasted long enough for my comfort. I would really appreciate hearing of one of the three solar skimmers currently on the market having lasted five years. One of the new models was just shown at a show in New Orleans, so it has -0- history. Their website doesn't even speak of a warranty. The others seem to be one year.
As to the stuff that falls to the bottom, again, as someone said, a robotic from Maytronics (Dolphin brand name), or another brand, especially a higher end one, will do an excellent job on the bottom. I'm in my first southeast Texas fall with my Dolphin M500. My neighbor two doors down got some river birch trees planted along both sides of his backyard. I sure hope he's gotten as many leaves in his pool as his trees have send via winds out of the north into my pool! After one serious blow and rain week before last, I walked out back to see a couple hundred leaves floating in my pool along with a similar number on the bottom. I used a net to skim those on the surface, but then I put the M500 in the pool. Note. The M400-600 have a third counterrotating brush in the center of the bottom, and I think that helps stir up debris to get sucked into the slots fore and aft of that brush, depending on which way it's going. It also does a credible job on the waterline.
Otherwise, a new liner might be the answer, along with serious maintenance beginning the day after the new liner is in place...and continuing until you die. I'm 72, and even the granddaughters (13 yr old fraternal twins) are less interested in a pool than they were five years ago. When they came for an overnight this weekend, they were more interested in ping pong than getting in the spa.