Place a bin of water at the foot of the pool to step in and remove sand and dirt. Also, wash up or shower before going into the pool.
Don't set up your pool under or near a large tree, if possible. This minimized leaves and twigs.
Use your surface skimmer to remove leaves or larger floating refuse.*
Use a suction vacuum to remove sand and dirt off the pool floor. Try this home made pool vacuum - it works much better and costs virtually nothing to make.
Use a float skimmer/filter to filter out floating debris before it gets to the filter.
Cover your pool when it is not being used.
*To quicky skim my pool with my home made Super Duper Pool Scooper! I skim from outside the pool or remove the handle and walk around the pool a few times, holding the scoop with my hands. It cleans the water nicely and lengthens the life of my filter.
Also, check out this nifty device to clean your filters and make them as good as new!
See photos below and notes:
A pool cover will keep leaves, bugs, and twigs out
The skimmer keeps refuse out of your filter
The surface filter gets what the skimmer misses
The top needs to float in order to work correctly
The filter takes the smaller particles out
The pool vacuums up dirt from the bottom - works great!
The dirt is trapped in the bag
The chlorinator uses ordinary salt to produce chlorine