I think most scholarships require the money to be spent on academic expenses and like board and lodging.

For large-sum scholarships, usually the sponsor will donate the money directly to your school to avoid this exact problem. They want to know your money is being spent on education, and that only. To go along with that, most of these large-sum scholarships will come with policies to ensure that you keep your end of the bargain (e.g. "Maintain a 3.5 GPA or hire to continue receiving scholarships money). For small-sum scholarships, usually the sponsor will issue checks in your name. At that point, technically, the money is all yours to spend on whatever you'd like. That being said, you should always stick to the education-related expenses, to stay on good terms with your generous sponsor. You don't want to be caught in the position where a donor finds that you've spent $2K on Abercrombie & Fitch. That's just bad.

Shame for thinking about using scholarship money for other things!