No pasta jar garbage is an 8 unless your reference is shitty homemade sauce that you claim to be a 9.
You make a moderate sauce in an hour (call it a 5) that’s good for putting on pizza or a topping for meat. I do that all the time on weekdays. If you want the spaghetti to be the star, you need to spend at least 4 hours on it. Best thing to do is to put it on at lunch and just let it simmer all afternoon.
Also, I’ve never had a manufactured meatball that was decent. They all suck. My grandmother taught my wife how to make meatballs but not me, so I have no advice to give on that front.
Regarding cheese, there’s no reason to not have a nice hunk of Parmesan in your fridge at all times. I buy mine from Costco because my boys eat a lot. It only takes 1-2 minutes to have fresh graded cheese to compliment the sauce you’ve worked all day on.
And don’t get me started on the pasta itself. Buy good organic pasta or make it yourself from scratch. It’s easy and it’s fun. My kids even participate.