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If you’ve got your eye on these next–year models, better get your order in early. These are the hardest to get.

As thousands of dealers nationwide await a decision from both Chrysler and General Motors on which lots to close, they’re also adjusting to what will likely be a 11–million–unit sales market this year. That’s down considerably from the 13.2 million units sold in 2008.

Part of that adjustment? Managing how many vehicles they have on the lot at once. Leave too many Toyota (TM) RAV4’s sitting unsold on the lot and the market will adjust accordingly, rapidly depreciating values and resale prices. Provide too few, and dealers lose money on sales they could—and should—have made.

“They want to make sure that they’re making their bets, that things are turning and that their bets are right, because it’s very costly to them to hold too much inventory,” says Mike DiGiovanni, GM’s executive director of global market analysis. “They’ve been burned bad in the last two years.”

DiGiovanni says GM dealers are taking a cue from Asian brands like Toyota—thanks to some disciplined inventory management, the Prius and Lexus GX are in high demand and as a result have retained their residual values well. Those cars join entries from Europe—Audi’s Q5 and BMW’s X5—as some of the hardest–to–get cars on the market today.

Behind the Numbers

To compile our list of the country’s most–popular 2010 vehicles, we used day–supply data provided by Ward’s Automotive Group, a publisher of industry trade news and data, as well as automaker–supplied data as a measure of dealer inventory levels. A low days’ supply and low retail turn rate—the amount of time a car spends on a dealer’s lot—means some dealerships may have sold out of a vehicle, have only a few of them on the lot, or have limited choices for style and trim. The scarcity is due to several factors, chief among them the popularity of a certain model and how disciplined dealers and automakers are with production and inventory management.

Vehicles with the lowest days’ supply made our initial list (Ward’s says the industry average is 63 days), which was pared down using J.D. Power and Associates’ average retail turn rate for each segment in November. The average retail turn rate for all vehicles is 48 days. It’s 32 days for Asian brands, 47 days for brands in Europe, and 63 days for domestics. For this list, we evaluated only vehicles from major automakers, not limited–production models that sometimes have years–long waiting lists for bespoke treatments and individualization.

Tipping can be tough in a recession. A recent Consumer Reports survey of 1,000 people found about one-quarter of Americans say they’ll tip less this holiday season than they did last year. Just 6 percent plan to tip more.

“Compared with the prior holiday season, fewer people are tipping a variety of service providers, and 26 percent expected to be providing less in tips,” says Tobie Stanger, senior money editor at Consumer Reports.

Some of that decline may come from consumers dropping services altogether, although the survey didn’t ask about that topic. “For instance, we don’t have a cleaning lady anymore — we feel terrible, we liked her, but we were trying to save money,” says Stanger.

Just two groups received a tip from the majority of respondents: 71 percent tipped cleaning workers (median gift, $50) and 56 tipped teachers (median gift, $20), although teachers were more likely to get a present of some kind.

“The cleaning person is in your house every week or every two weeks, it’s personal, you see that person often, and they’re typically not paid well, so there’s more of a concern about tipping when possible,” Stanger says. “Very few people tipped their garbage collector or mail carrier — those people don’t enter the house. There’s less of a personal relationship.”

Who Gets What?

Consumer Reports found average tips of $20 for hairdressers, garbage collectors and postal workers (who are limited by Postal Service rules to non-cash gifts worth less than $20 — and no alcohol). The survey found landscapers receive an average of $30; manicurists and barbers, $10; pet-care providers, $25; and newspaper carriers, $15. But in all these categories, less than one-third of people gave any kind of tip.

Tipping is also a regional phenomenon, with consumers in the Northeast and West Coast more likely to dole out rewards than those in the central and southern states. “In my neighborhood in New York, the school bus driver and school bus monitor both get tips; in my friends’ neighborhood in Colorado Springs, no one would think to do that,” says Stanger.

Carolyn Danckaert of the Center for a New American Dream, which advocates simplifying the holidays, says it’s better to go with a homemade gift for a family member to save money and maintain a cash tip for a service worker. “I wouldn’t look to tips as my first way to save money; reducing one’s consumption doesn’t necessarily mean eliminating or reducing monetary giving,” she says. “A teacher can more readily to adapt to a reduction in tips, but with people who might be more economically fragile it becomes a bigger need.”

For example, a babysitter, who typically works for an hourly wage with no benefits, might receive at least one week’s pay, all the way up to one month’s pay for a nanny who has been with the family for multiple years.

A convenient location, good schools, well-maintained homes and a modest inventory of properties for sale: These are the traditional cues that homeowners and buyers look for to assure that home values will hold up in a neighborhood.

But whether values sink or stick is now dependent on an “invisible” factor: the mortgage balances of homeowners in the area

Approximately one-third of all mortgage holders have a loan balance that’s higher than the current value of their home, according to a recent government report on federal anti-foreclosure programs.

Homeowners in this unfortunate position are dubbed “underwater” borrowers.

As their tide of debt rises above what they could get from selling, these owners have less incentive to care for their properties, which depresses area prices further, finds the Congressional Oversight Panel’s report on the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. And if they experience financial distress, underwater owners are more likely to lose the property to foreclosure, with the resulting empty homes adversely impacting prices up and down the block.

Spotting signs of home abuse

Sometimes it’s evident that mortgage balances are sabotaging neighborhood values.

For example, John Sullivan, president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents, says he’s encountered relatively new subdivisions that normally would still look fresh, with finishing touches being added, like additional landscaping.

Instead, lawns are scraggly, windows are dirty and other signs of home abuse abound.

Still, with one-third of all borrowers underwater, not all are found in new developments that already exhibit telltale signs of owners’ mortgage misfortune.

In fact, says Khater, it’s not until mortgage debt falls about 20 percent below a home’s value that foreclosures start occurring with more frequency.

A matter of public record

Because neighborhoods cluttered with underwater owners are likely to see further value drops, Evan Feldman, an agent with ZipRealty in Wellington, Fla., says he tries to alert buyers to this threat: “I try to educate them as much as I can; I don’t want them saying later, ‘How could you not tell me this?’”

While it may seem that the size of a homeowner’s mortgage is strictly between the homeowner and the lender, mortgage data are public record. County recorders or county clerks record a lien for the amount of a mortgage each time a loan is made.

Some counties offer these records online to the public. Users can search using a borrower’s name, or by address or by securing personal identification numbers from other online tax records.

Although it may feel as if they’re prying into neighbors’ financial lives, homeowners worried about what’s happening to values in their neighborhood can use these data as another indicator of what’s ahead.

Some words are red flags to insurers and using them could mean that your claim might be delayed or even denied.

1. “I Think …”

Never begin a statement regarding a claim with these words. If you aren’t sure, don’t guess. What you say could cause your claim to be delayed or denied, says attorney Vedica Puri. And if you’re wrong — say, you report driving at 30 miles per hour before an accident but police later prove you were going 50 — it could hurt your credibility.

Particularly beware of speculating on blame or causation. For example, if you suggest that a water leak is due to a construction defect, you could give the insurer an out if that’s a policy exclusion.

Stick to the facts. Should the insurance rep ask you a question you can’t answer, simply say, “I don’t know.” If the person is taking a written or recorded statement, ask for a transcript to review for misstatements.

2. “I Got Whiplash”

Fraud costs auto insurers up to $6.8 billion a year, reports the Insurance Research Council. And suing for damages caused by whiplash is a fraudster favorite (”Oh, my neck!”). Merely mentioning the term is likely to get your claim flagged for further investigation, says Amy Danise of Insure.com.

Whiplash is a specific diagnosis. If a doctor says that you have it, then you should report it as such. Other wise, if you feel neck pain, just refer to it that way.

3. “It’s an Experimental Treatment”

Truly experimental or investigational medical procedures are typically not eligible for health insurance coverage. So if a doctor tells you he wants to experiment with a treatment, don’t represent it using those words. “In medical terms it may not actually be experimental or investigational,” explains Danise. “If it’s proven effective, your doctor deems it medically necessary, and it’s not an exclusion, it should be covered.” Verify with your doctor that it meets the above litmus tests before going to the insurer.

4. “My Basement Flooded”

With homeowners insurance, “flood” is a red flag. “The word refers to an act of weather or an overflow from a nearby body of water,” says Danise. “And a standard homeowners policy doesn’t cover it. You’d need flood insurance.”

So don’t use the f-word if your basement is knee-deep in water because of a burst pipe. Damages from such an incident should be covered by a homeowners policy. But calling it a “flood” could muddy the waters, so to speak.

5. “Just Send Me a Check”

When filing a home or auto claim, don’t emphasize that you’re just looking for the cash.

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Gift cards have plenty of benefits — they’re convenient, they’re never the wrong color and they fit perfectly inside an envelope. But they do have one major drawback: Recipients know exactly how much you spent on them.

Or do they?

Though the fact is rarely advertised, gift cards can be bought for less than they’re worth. You might be able to buy a gift card for half price — or even less — and your recipient will be none the wiser. (Unless, of course, that recipient is you.)

If you know how and where to shop, sometimes you can get a lot more than you pay for. Here’s how:

1. Auction sites. Auction sites such as eBay often offer cards for less than full price — but you’ll need to do some research to make sure the card is legit. Be sure to check the seller’s ratings and ask about any expiration date or nonusage fees that might apply. “If you can get at least a 30 percent discount on the card, I think it’s worth it to go through those steps,” says Fatima Mehdikarimi, a shopping and finance expert who runs ShoppingQueen.com.

2. Gift-card specific sites. Swapagift.com and Certificateswap.com are niche sites that cater to people looking to buy, sell and trade their gift cards. “Their discounts aren’t usually quite as good as the ones on eBay, but they have an extra layer of protection,” says Mehdikarimi. At these sites (unlike a typical auction site), the gift card’s value is secured with the seller’s credit card, and some sites will guarantee your purchase up to a certain amount. You’ll tend to find a flood of new cards — and likely bigger bargains — after holidays such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.

3. Bing’s shopping portal. In a bid to lure users away from Google, new-search-engine-on-the-block Bing.com offers cash-back rewards to registered users for many purchases through its shopping site. “They’re one of the most lucrative [sites] on getting cash back,” notes Brian Preston, host of the Money Guy podcast and partner at Preston & Cleveland Wealth Management. To find out if you can score a deal, head to Bing, click on “Shopping” and enter the name of the gift card you’re searching for. The site will list all the cards available, prices and cash back rewards, which can surpass 10 percent. Recent deals have included 6 percent cash back on Gap and Banana Republic cards, and 10 percent cash back on iTunes cards.

Grade yours on a 10-point scale.

Nobody’s perfect. When it comes to our financial lives, we’ve all done things we later regretted — whether it’s getting slapped with a $3 fee for using an out-of-network ATM or going on a Las Vegas bender and losing the house on an overly aggressive poker bet.

The key is to understand the scale of the transgression. With credit card blunders, that’s no easy task — is it worse to take a cash advance or to pay a bill a day or two late? Experts graded a range of credit card mistakes on a scale from 1 (losing a few bucks to a cash machine) to 10 (losing the house). Find out which worry the pros most — and which may (almost) get a free pass.

Paying Late
How bad is it? 6
The details: Credit card companies are notoriously prickly about late payments — even a payment that’s late by a few minutes can pile up fees, interest charges and other penalties. Depending on how late the payment is, your card issuer may also report the problem to any of the credit bureaus, which can wreak havoc on your credit score. The good news, says Stacy Francis, president of Francis Financial, is that the error may be reversible. “You do have the option of giving the credit card company a call and asking them not to report it,” she says. “If you’ve generally been an on-time payer, they may waive the fees and not report it.”

Paying Only the Minimum on Your Card
How bad is it? 4
The details: Credit card companies love it when you pay off your debt slowly, but you should loathe it. It won’t necessarily affect your credit score, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good practice. Sending in only the minimum payment “is definitely going to keep you in debt longer, and you’re going to pay a heck of a lot more in interest,” says Francis. “You may be paying twice as much — or more — as you would by paying in cash.”

Buying On a Card Just For Rewards
How bad is it? 1
The details: If you’re paying off your balance on time and in full, using your cards to grab extra rewards isn’t necessarily a bad plan, says Gail Cunningham, spokeswoman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. “You can win the rewards card game if you know how to play,” she says. “But you do have to know yourself.” Because most people spend more when they’re paying with plastic than with cash, be cautious and recognize when you’re buying something only because plastic makes the purchase painless.