shortage — a deficiency in quantity: a shortage of cash.
moderation — the quality of being moderate; restraint; avoidance of extremes or excesses; temperance.
insufficiency — deficiency in amount, force, power, competence, or fitness; inadequacy: insufficiency of supplies.
lack — something missing or needed: After he left, they really felt the lack.
need — a requirement, necessary duty, or obligation: There is no need for you to go there.
want — to feel a need or a desire for; wish for: to want one's dinner; always wanting something new.
base — The base of something is its lowest edge or part.
core — The core of a fruit is the central part of it. It contains seeds or pips.
few — not many but more than one: Few artists live luxuriously.
little — small in size; not big; not large; tiny: a little desk in the corner of the room.
scarcity — insufficiency or shortness of supply; dearth.
dearth — If there is a dearth of something, there is not enough of it.
deficiency — Deficiency in something, especially something that your body needs, is not having enough of it.
deprivation — If you suffer deprivation, you do not have or are prevented from having something that you want or need.
economy — thrifty management; frugality in the expenditure or consumption of money, materials, etc.
frugality — the quality of being frugal, or prudent in saving; the lack of wastefulness: Many people who have lived through periods of economic deprivation develop lifelong habits of frugality and are almost never tempted by wasteful consumption.
poverty — the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor. Synonyms: privation, neediness, destitution, indigence, pauperism, penury. Antonyms: riches, wealth, plenty.
privation — lack of the usual comforts or necessaries of life: His life of privation began to affect his health.
shortcoming — a failure, defect, or deficiency in conduct, condition, thought, ability, etc.: a social shortcoming; a shortcoming of his philosophy.
unselfish — not selfish; disinterested; generous; altruistic.