Synonyms for Hardscrabble (same or very similar meaning)
WordNet sense 1 (lacking in specific resources, qualities or substances):
poorWordNet sense 2 (of a bare living gained by great labor):
marginalWordNet sense 3 (deficient in amount or quality or extent):
meager, meagerly, stingy, meagre, scrimpy, stingyFrom the ODE community, based on WordNetadd/edit