How often should a pool be maintained

[desc5]

I'm looking for some advise on how often a company should maintain the pool if it's only being used a few months per year!
In October 2008 my wife and i decided to purchase a home in Kissimmee to keep things simple we decided to retain the maintenance pool company who were with the previous owners and so far we are happy with the service.
Between the family and friends the pool will probably be used maybe 3/4 months of the year but I am getting the pool maintained each week at a cost of $128.00 per month!
Could someone please advise me if I reduce this to maybe twice per month would it have a detremental affect on the water quality, according to the company it would, but i'd expect them to say that for cost reasons!
So your advise and responses would be gratefully received.

[RMS1]

Pool maintenance should be at minimum once per week in the Summer and maybe every other week in the winter, under special conditions.

You can go to http://www.clean-pool-and-spa.com to learn how to take care of the pool between services. If you follow the tips you may not need your pool guy after all.

[chem geek]

Take charge of our own pool by using chlorine alone as described in the Pool School. See this post for more about the link in the previous post and it's use of No Mor Problems and what this really does to a pool.