Pool or no pool?

I've enjoyed my pool (even if I don't use it near as much as I thought) though I'm confused as to why the people that built the house put such a tiny pool in for the size yard I have. My polaris vacuum bot is broken though and the cost to repair it is about 1/3rd the cost of just buying a new one, so there's that. Since my pool is somewhat small, the maintenance isn't that bad. However, mine sits under a large oak tree that continually drops leaves, acorns, bugs, etc into the pool. That means the skimmer basket needs to be emptied more frequently than most, and since my polaris is busted, that means more work for me to get the other stuff out that drops to the bottom. Like someone else mentioned, putting a couple of minutes into it every now and then is better than letting it get out of whack because it'll take several days to get it back under control again. Never buy chemicals and things like that from pool supply places if you can get around it. I buy everything from Amazon, though I'm sure others can direct you to less expensive places. If you do go chlorine, know there is a difference in tablet quality. Some people will say it doesn't matter, but you'll find some that last longer, work better and so on. As far as like the shock packets, iirc they'll run you about a $1 or so each if you buy in bulk. I think I use 1 pack a week during swim season, and one additional after a heavy rain. My pool is less than 15,000 gallons though.

Edit: Around here most people were charging $50 per visit to work on the pool, regardless of the size. My pool though was too small to justify paying someone.