Since money is tight, Watermom (Lisa) is giving you good guidance. My first pool was a 3500 gal Intex donut we used for 3 years. The K2006 kit from Taylor is between $58-$70 dollars and worth its weight in gold. If WalMart still sells their 5-Way drop test kit, buy one of those, it's about $15 and is the best cheap alternative.

Meanwhile, every evening check your chlorine and pH, if it's off (Chlorine low, pH too low or high). Plan to keep your FC high--that's safest. Try to keep FC at 5ppm, at least. I wouldn't try to maintain it lower than that.

Also: In your pool, TOTAL HARDNESS is irrelevant. Bromine is an alternative to Chlorine. Since you are using Chlorine, ignore the Bromine level. It's meaningless.

Carl