My advice on the money belt is that you never want anyone to know that you're wearing it. Therefore, use it strictly for important things like your passport and an emergency credit card. Keep it below your beltline.
Carry cash in your pocket. You're going to be using it all day, so it needs to be accessable. If you're so spacey that someone can actually stick their hand into your cash pocket and withdraw, you deserve to get pickpocketed.
I managed to avoid getting pickpocketed for a year in the pickpocket capital of the world: Rome. It's pretty easy to keep one hand on one pocket with the goods when in crowds or on busses.
Trojan gave some good advice on over packing. Depending on the length of your trip, I'd probably pack even less than he suggested. Clothes are dirt cheap pretty much everywhere in the world. Why carry around what can be purchased for peanuts upon arrival? At least, that's how I do it.
And shower shoes (also known as 99 cent flip flops) are a must if you stay in any kind of communal accommodations (hostel).
Don't get too drunk on your first night in a new town. Or any night, really.
Don't be a dum dum tourist that walks around with the camera hanging around the neck and map in hand. You're asking to get mugged. Act confident. Like you know the area. If you're smart, you'll study your map a bit in your hotel before going out. Just know the main areas and their proximity to where you're staying. If you have a feel for the town, you're less likely to get completely disoriented.
Everyone has to look at a map sometime, but nobody has to do it in the middle of a crowded street. This is when you get pickpocketed. When you're holding the map in one hand and pointing with the other. Then a kid barely brushes you as he walks by.
Look at your map when you're at a sidewalk cafe or somewhere that you are not "in traffic".
Never put valuables on the table when you're at a cafe. You're going to want to go through your pictures, but put your camera back in your pocket after you're finished.
One of the common scams in europe was for someone to see a cell phone or camera on the table, then approach the table with a piece of cardboard with a few items on it that are "for sale". They hold up the cardboard and get your eyes up, off the table, then swipe the camera, then wait for you to say that you're not interested, then walk away and disappear into the crowd. You notice your item missing about 30 seconds later.
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